:2^.^'^ 



*^. 




(lass 
Book. 



FkKSKNTi:!) m' 



^■y. 



'U€C-2^-7'-i'^^ 



FLOEAL EMBLEMS; 



OR, 



MORAL SKETCHES FROM FLOWERS. 



FLOEAL EMBLEMS; 



OR, 



MORAL SKETCHES FROM FLOWERS. 



BY MARGARET COXE. 

AUTHOR OF "THE YOUNG- LADY's COMPANION;" ''CLAIMS OF THE 
COUNTRY ON AMERICAN FEMALES;" "WONDERS OF THE 

deep; " VISIT to n ah ant ;" "infant brother." 



CINCINNATI: 
HENRY W. DERBY & CO 

NEW- YORK : 
D. APPLETON & CO. 

MDCCCXLV. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the yeai- 1845, by 

Henry W. Derby & Co., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Ohio. 




PRINTED BY 

E. Morgan & Co. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Our Saviour, when on earth, sent his disci- 
ples to the flowers of the field, for some of the 
most precious lessons He designed to impart to 
them. Moses, when receiving Divine directions 
as to the making of the sacred vestment of 
the Jewish High Priest, who was to be a sig- 
nificant type of the Redeemer, — was command- 
ed to make a floral emblem prominent among 
its adornments. So, in making the sacred can- 
dle-stick, he was required to introduce into its 
elaborate workmanship " of pure gold of beaten 
work," a representation of the beautiful blos- 
soms of the Almond Tree ; ^^ its knops, with its 
flowers," were to be seen in every part of the 
sacred candle-stick. Indeed, throughout every 
part of the magnificent structure reared by Sol- 
omon, as the dwelling place for the God of Is- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

rael. we find "open, or opening, flowers," con- 
stituted the most common ornamental device. 

The Author of the following pages has long 
been exerting herself, to the utmost of her abil- 
ities, to lead the youthful subjects of our coun- 
try to the study of the works of Nature, on 
Christian principles. Were it in her power to 
do so, she would, as it were, baptize science, 
so that it might be made a useful assistant in 
the cultivation of the moral natures of children. 
With these views, she has sought in the fol- 
lowing pages to convey important religious 
truths to young minds, through the medium 
of certain beautiful flowers indigenous to the 
United States, and these she has styled "Floral 
Emblems." 

As far as the writer has been able to ascer- 
tain, her plan is a novel one, and may, per- 
haps, on that account, more readily appeal to 
the sympathies of the young. Many of the in- 
cidents narrated in the volume, occurred in the 
experience of the writer ; and the engravings 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

which adorn its pages, were made from paint- 
ings taken from her own hand from Nature, of 
the very flowers which, in hfe, cheered and 
gladdened by their presence beloved youthful 
friends, during their walks with her. 

Should it be objected to this work, that some 
of the ideas contained in it are above the capa- 
cities of the generality of children, the writer 
would reply in her defence of them, that she 
has tested them, and found them not to be so in 
conversation with young friends who had been 
taught to observe and think for themselves. 
When intelligent children have once been in- 
structed how to do so, it is surprising with 
what quickness and accuracy they will, on 
searching, be able to discover points of resem- 
blance between an em.blem and the truth de- 
signed to be conveyed by it. 

"The true pleasures of childhood,'' said the 
excellent Hannah More, ^*are cheap and natu- 
ral ; for every object teems with delight, to 
eyes and hearts new to the enjoyments of life ; 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

nay, the hearts of healthful children abound 
with a general disposition to mirth, and joyful- 
ness, even without a specij&c object to excite 
it. Only furnish them with a few simple and 
harmless materials, and they will mianufacture 
their own happiness, with more skill, success, 
and satisfaction, than they will receive from all 
that money can purchase. Their bodily recre- 
ations should be such as will promote their 
health, quicken their activity, enliven their spi- 
rits, whet their ingenuity, and qualify them for 
their mental work While childhood pre- 
serves its native simplicity, every little change 
will be interesting — every gratification will be- 
come a luxury. A ride, a walk, a garland of 
flowers of her own making, a plant of her own 
cultivating or gathering, will form a delightful 
amusement to a child whose mind is in a 
natural state ; but these harmless and interest- 
ing recreations will be dull and tasteless to a 
little creature nursed in forced, costly, and vapid 
pleasures." 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

Sanctioned by such authority^ the Author of 
the following pages has made another attempt 
to furnish the youth of her country with fresh 
materials, from which she hopes they may de- 
rive intellectual cheerfulness and moral benefit. 
As the storehouse from Avhich she has drawn 
them, has, by a gracious ProvidencCj been opened 
freely to all, irrespective of external circumstan- 
ces, so would she hope that what has been col- 
lected therefrom, may beccm.e acceptable to her 
youthful readers in various classes of life. 

If on her labors the Divine blessing shall de- 
scend so far, that she may be made instrumental 
in leading one young mind to feel that its de- 
pendence lor enjoyment rests not in external 
things only, then will she feel abundantly re- 
compensed for the labor bestowed on this vol- 
ume. 

Cincinnati, Felriiary, 1645, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 



PULMONARIA VIRGINICA. 

LUNGWORT OR HAIRBELL 

Pentandria Monogynia, 

Corolla funnel form. Calyx five parted. Flowers disposed in 
terminal corymbs. Leaves smooth, glaucous, (that is, cov- 
ered with a sea-green mealiness.) 

On a balmy afternoon, early in May, when 
each leaf was waking, to send forth its tribute 
of gratitude, seven or eight happy little girls 
set off on a ramble in search of wild flowers, 
accompanied by an elder friend. Their course 
led them to the foot of a beautiful hill, and 
along a picturesque stream that winds itself 
through one of the central counties of Ohio. 

The merry-hearted group tripped joyously 
along, with baskets swinging on their arms, 
which on their return they hoped to have filled 
with pretty blossoms. With the keen percep- 



12 FLORAL EMBLEMSr. 

tion common to happy childreiij they noted all 
that was attractive in the landscape, and excla- 
mations of glad surprise burst from their lips 
at the sight of a vernal blossom, or at the 
sound of a chirping bird. The road lay round 
a steep hill, and as they made a sudden turn, 
the mimic river lay outspread at their feet, 
calling forth fresh and more joyous expressions ; 
for there is something in the sight of a beau- 
tiful expanse of water, which causes the hearts 
of children, as well as those of riper years who 
retain a taste for innocent pleasures, to spring 
up and leap forth in gladness. 

While my young friends were intent on their 
sport, I strolled on, and soon found my attention 
riveted on the rich botanical specimens which 
abounded in this secluded spot. One species 
particularly excited my admiration; it was the 
beautiful Fulmonaria virginica^ or Hairbell, 
which I had been accustomed to see nurtured 
with great care in the flower gardens of our 
Eastern States, where it was considered a great 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 13 

rarity. In childhood I had loved it, and tended 
it with exceeding care, from peculiar circum- 
stances. How many deep emotions are stirred 
up within us by the sight of a flower, which 
having been in our infant days cultivated in our 
tiny gardens with the utmost tenderness, as our 
mother's favorite, has thenceforward been hal- 
lowed in our imaginations, by that sweet asso- 
ciation. We cherish it in after years, as if 
its green leaves and beautiful blossoms could 
still waken a smile on those beloved lips, and 
draw forth a tribute of admiration from that 
heart, which instinctively constrained us to love 
al]j whether animate or inanimate, which was 
cherished^by a mother. 

By-and-by, the merry voices of the living 
and youthful, roused me from my tender musings 
over by-past hours of happiness. I was impor- 
tuned to return; in reply, I merely said, "I 
have found a beautiful Hairbell." 

This little flower seemed to exert some mag- 
netic attraction over my young companions, as 

B 



14 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

well as myself, for no sooner were they informed 
of my having found it, than they came tripping 
instantly with great glee, towards the spot where 
I was standing. Now all eyes were fixed on 
the ground, and we traversed the little glen, as 
if we expected to find imbedded in it, some 
hidden treasure. The golden violet, which in 
former days was the prize held out to the com- 
petitor in the Floral Games of Thoulouse, could 
scarcely have awakened more eager desires for its 
possession, than did my beautiful, modest, Hair- 
bell, in the hearts of those around me. 

In the former case however, the prize could 
be awarded but to one of the seven poets who 
contended for it, while in the present instance, 
my little companions were all gratified by ob- 
taining many of the lovely flowers for which 
they sought so anxiously. They returned home, 
each with a happy heart and a well-filled 
basket. 

As I seated myself on the trunk of a fallen 
tree to rest while the young botanists were en- 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 15 

gaged in their pleasant occupation, I felt a strong 
desire to turn their love of flowers to a prac- 
tical purpose. In as simple a manner as I pos- 
sibly could, I explained my ideas on the subject, 
as I have stated them in the first chapter. I 
told them that if our lives were spared, I hoped 
to take with them many pleasant walks during 
the following months, and proposed, if agreea- 
ble to them, to select each day some botanical 
specimen, and read a scriptural lesson from its 
peculiarities. 

They were all pleased with the idea, and 
unanimously proposed, that the Hairbell should 
furnish our lesson for that day. 

I assented, and they gathered round me, each 
selecting some rustic seat. 

^' Look, my dear girls, at the Hairbell which 
I am holding in my hand," said I; "you ob- 
serve the contrast presented, between the buds 
and the full blown flowers." 

" I do," said Maria, a little girl between seven 
and eight years of age. ^'The buds are not 



16 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

SO handsomej they are of a dull purple, while 
the open blossoms are of the sweetest blue." 

^^Yes, my dear," I replied, "the one is infi- 
nitely more beautiful than the other. Just such 
is the contrast between the character, before and 
after, it is born anew of the Spirit of God. Ob- 
serve these buds are small, they look shrivelled 
and contracted, and their shading is far from 
handsome; they stand erect too, and make no 
effort to hide themselves from sight. Now mark 
these lovely bells ! how great the difference ! 
nevertheless, a few days ago, they were but 
buds; they have since been touched by the 
finger of God; they have expanded into full 
and matured beauty; the bells have changed 
their dull purple color, and have become of the 
most beautiful tint, just like that of God's own 
fair sky; but as if almost frightened to find 
themselves imitating heavenly things, they now 
droop their lovely bells, hiding themselves from 
the notice of others, and those which have 
expanded the most, bend their heads the lowest." 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. If 

'^So, my dear childreiij when the heart is 
changed by the Holy Spirit ; the whole charac- 
ter increases in loveliness ; the feelings no longer 
centre in self, but are enkindled by their desire 
to do their Father's will, and delight in making 
others happy; the mind, no longer occupied in 
the' low concerns of this world, but continually 
stretching itself to take in the ideas of far greater 
and heavenly objects, actually grows stronger 
and more enlarged, but in proportion as it be- 
comes more meet for heavenly society, it will 
bend its head the more, in lowly self-abasement, 
and its cry will habitually be, as it covers its 
face in penitential sorrow, ^ Lord ! be merciful 
to me a sinner.' " 

I plucked the corolla of the flowers from 
the calyx, and bade my young friends remark 
the slender hair-like filament by which it had 
been attached; from which circumstance the 
name of Hairbell is derived. "Just as delicate, 
as hidden from the sight of careless spectators, 
is the hold by which, my children, the heart 



18 , FLORxlL EMBLEMS. 

of even the best Christian is kept dependant 
on Godj the only source and sustainer of spi- 
ritual life. The bell which I plucked, was 
lately blooming on the parent stalk, but hav- 
ing been severed from it, is now withering, and 
will soon be an unsightly object. So the heart 
even of a David, could not maintain its spiritual 
life and beauty, when its dependance on God 
was weakened by carelessness, and neglect of 
religious duties. Faith is to the soul of the 
Christian, what this filament was to the bios- 
som of the Hairb'^ill." 

My young friends expressed themselves in- 
terested in the remarks I had made, and as 
we walked home, they talked it over among 
themselves. 

We brought on our return, many roots of 
the Hairbell and planted them in a rich and 
more genial soil, where we were told they 
would flourish, and increase greatly in beauty. 
We were shown one, which had been thus 
transplanted ; its stalk was stronger, its leaves 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 19 

and blossoms were far more rich, luxuriant 
and abundant than those we had seen in a wild 
state. 

Before long, however, to our great regret, 
the season of the Hairbell passed by ; the frost 
of Autumn and the icy touch of Winter passed 
over our gardens, and no trace could be seen 
of those beauties we had so much admired. My 
young friends mourned over their lost flowers; 
but I cheered them by the assurance, that 
spring would return, and their lamented trea- 
sures would again burst forth, when the voice 
of the Almighty should be heard in their 
prison houses, and appear far more beautiful 
than they had done, previous to their decay; 
while, each year, as it rolled by, would be found 
adding to their loveliness. 

When their spirits had been revived by these 
cheering anticipations, I observed, '^You, my 
beloved children, were lately sorrowing over 
your departed flowers, what has now dried up 
your grief?" 



33 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

^^You told uSj*' they answered, ''that v/hen 
spring comes they would shoot up again, and 
become more beautiful than ever. We know 
you never deceive us." 

"Do you see any thing remaining of your 
Hairbells to warrant your belief in what I have 
said V' I again inquired. 

" No," said one of them. ^- we do not, but 
your word is sufficient." 

" It is well, my dear ! I have not deceived 
you. Now if your lives are spared a few years 
you may find not only flowers withering and 
fading from your sight, but you will very pro- 
bably be called on, to resign beloved and cher- 
ished friends, those, who may have been as dear 
to you as your own souls, to the silent tomb. 
As you look on the grassy mounds which con- 
ceal their precious remains from human view, 
you may, in the anguish of your hearts, be 
tempted to sorrow as if no hope, no consolation, 
could ever rise to throw light on your desolate 
path. Under your lesser sorrow your grief has 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 21 

been softened by the assurance of a frail being 
like yourselveSj be ready* to listen then to 
one, *\vho spake as never man spoke/ when 
future hours of bereavement shall come upon 
you. The blessed Saviour assures his sor- 
rowing servants, ^that the hour is coming, and 
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of 
the Son of God ; and they that hear, shall live,' 
^and shall come forth, they that have done 
good, unto the resurrection of life.' He who 
cannot and will not deceive the heart that 
trusts its all to him, has pledged His word to 
raise in glory, those bodies of his servants which 
in weakness and dishonor, have been deposited 
in the tomb, Yes ! my beloved ones, as cer- 
tainly as on returning spring the vegetable 
creation will arise in newness of life, so assuredly 
will the trumpet of the Archangel be heard 
in the silent caverns of the dead; and in a 
moment — in the twinkling of an eye — shall the 
corruptible bodies of those we love, if they have 
died in faith, be raised in far more beauty than 



22 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

they ever possessed on earth, and rising up with 
their ascending Lord, shall go to receive their 
complete and everlasting blessedness in the pre- 
sence of our God and the Lamb" 

Before we separated, 1 repeated tne loliowing 
lines to my young companions, which were 
written by a dear and departed friend, as ap- 
propriate to the subject of our recent conver- 
sation. 

Do thou! the source of light! 

Thy sacred unction freely give, 
Direct my erring heart aright, 

Dispose me by thy laws to live. 

Grant me to feel that ardent love 

With which enraptured seraphs glow, 

Replete with bliss to saints above, 
The antepast of heaven below. 



The powers committed to my trust, 
May I exert with grateful joy. 

For thee, supremely wise and just! 
My every faculty employ. 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 23 

So shall my soul, divinely taught, 

To thee increasing homage pay, 
Her strength in thee alone be sought. 

While treading sorrow's thorny way. 

And when this body mute shall be, 

And slumber in its lowly cell, 
She '11 seek those mansions in the sky 

Where the redeemed in glory dwell. 




or Trai/ni/j Arhutus . 



25 



EPIG^A REPENS. 

TRAILIX.3- ARBUTUS. 

Stem creeping. Leaves ovate, spotted with russet. Co- 
rolla cylindric. 

Among the very earliest of spring flowers is 
the modestj but truly lovely Epigaea Repens, or 
Trailing Arbutus, which is to be met with all 
through our Middle States, and in most of the 
Western States of the same latitude. 

Its fragrant blossoms, of the most delicate car- 
mine tint, are universal favorites with the young, 
and with those of riper years who have a taste 
for floral beauties. It possesses another claim 
to the interests of Americans, as it is reported 
to have been the first blossom which cheered 
the Pilgrim Fathers of New-England after their 
first long and dreary winter. 

The period when it ordinarily may be found 

blooming, is anxiously anticipated; and the pros- 
c 



26 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

pect of gathering bouquets of it, will stimulate 
many a youthful heart to imdertake a long and 
wearisome walk. 

A few days subsequent to that on which we 
had found the Pulmonaria, our little group 
again set out on a botanical excursion, in search 
of the Arbutus. This humble flower delights 
in shade ; it shrinks like a sensitive young fe- 
male, from the public gaze and the open com- 
mon, and cannot unsought be won. 

My young friends implicitly yielded them- 
selves to my guidance, and we bent our steps 
towards a steep and wooded hill, overhanging 
the road which led along the stream already 
noticed. With difficulty, a safe footing could be 
maintained along the shelving side of the hill ; 
and after awhile, the enthusiasm of young hearts 
began to subside, and disappointed hopes had 
already tinged their young cheeks with sadness 
and made their steps less light and quick. At 
this moment a sweet perfume arose as it were 
from under my feet, unfolding a secret which 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 27 

I knew, would, when told, light up the counte- 
nances of my young friends with smiles. 

I stooped down, and clearing away the dried 
leaves with which the hill was carpeted, I be- 
held the sweet blossoms, for which we had 
hitherto searched fruitlessly. When a delicate 
sprig was held up, a sudden change was mani- 
fested ! — the feet recovered their agility, — the 
countenances their look of gladness. Soon ev- 
ery hand was intent, on removing the dried 
leaves, and in unveiling the blossoms and broad 
green leaves of the Epigaea; and each one of 
the party was soon furnished with an elegant 
and fragrant bouquet. 

'^I am determined," said one little one, ^^to 
transplant this very fine root to my garden. 
Of course it will become larger and more beau- 
tiful." 

"You had better ask," replied one of her 
companions sagaciously, "whether the Arbutus 
will bear removing." 

In reply, I told them it would not; for I had 



28 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

seen it tried in innumerable instances without 
success. After a few weeks, the russet spots on 
the green leaves wouldj I said, uniformly be- 
come larger ; and finally the green hue would 
be exchanged for one of dull, unvarying, un- 
sightly brown. 

^^But," said the one who so eagerly patited 
for the Arbutus in her garden, " if I take up a 
great deal of its own earth with it, and keep 
boughs to shade it, it must surely live." 

"Try it, my dear,'' said I, ^^and you will 
find that I speak correctly." The pertinacious 
little girl did so, and in doing this, took a 
heavy load on her little arm, which added 
much to her fatigue on our return. 

As we retraced our steps homewards, one of 
the party observed, "we have had a pleasant 
walk, and gathered sweet flowers, but where is 
the lesson which we were to learn?" They 
looked anxiously towards me. I replied, " Wait 
for ten days, and then I will give it; for the 
moral of our Arbutus will be then, best read," 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 29 

Ten days passed, and I was reminded of my 
promise. 

'^ Let us go/' I saidj " to Emily's garden ; 
our sprigs have withered in the glasses, and 
we can moralize best over her transplanted Ar- 
butus." 

She hung down her head and blushed, with- 
out making a reply. 

"Is it even so, Emily? Your plant, not- 
withstanding all your confidence and care, has 
perished, has it not?" 

"It has," she said, "lost all its beauty. It is 
a brown, ugly thing. I am going to root it 
up, for it only disfigures my garden." 

" Let us see it nevertheless, my love ; and 
learn a useful lesson from its decay." 

We bent our steps towards the garden of our 
young friend, and from thence returned to the 
house, where, when we were all seated, I re- 
sumed my task of instruction upon a floral em- 
blem. 

"The Arbutus seems to me, my dear chil- 



30 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

dren, an apt emblem of the humble and re- 
tiring Christian — she whom her God has, in 
His wise Providence, designed to grace the 
lowly and quiet paths of life. The Arbutus 
shields its beauty, under the russet covering, 
which God has caused to fall in its appointed 
season over the fair face of Nature. We mourn 
the descent of the faded leaves; nevertheless, 
the Almighty, who does nothing in vain, makes 
this brown mantle to be the means of fertiliz- 
ing and making healthful the soil, which would 
wear out, unless new strength was imparted 
to it. 

"So does the lowly Christian — the little girl 
or boy, who loves to serve God in an humble 
station — cover herself, or himself, up from pub- 
lic gaze in the discharge of those quiet, labo- 
rious, but humble duties, which God has ap- 
pointed, and which may be made by those who 
discharge them faithfully unto the Lord, the 
means of glorifying Him, just as truly, though 
not as strikingly, and so of adding fruit to the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 31 

parent vine, as the ojSices of the high and gift- 
ed among his people. 

" You observed when I stepped on the Arbu- 
tus, that it sent out a sweet perfume, which told 
me where it grew. So, my dear little girls, if you 
bring your young hearts to God, as the most 
precious gift you have to oifer, as did the be- 
loved Mary of old, the sweetest perfume will 
arise to gladden the church of God. And 
should you in your humble position, at the feet 
of the tall trees and beautiful shrubs, which 
grow in the garden of the Lord, be so covered 
up by your humility, that the eyes of your fel- 
low-men may not observe you ; it may so hap- 
pen in the providence of God, that some dis- 
pensation of His, as it rolls over the earth, may, 
as it passes over you, crush you in its course, 
and by the sweet perfume alone which arises 
from your bruised heart, manifest to the world 
that you are one of His disciples. 

" I have something more to say, before we 
part, about Emily's transplanted and withered 



32 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

flower, which we may all take as a warning. 
God, my dear children, has assigned to each 
exactly the station which He sees he can 
best fill. Now, our sinful hearts are very prone 
to become discontented with our condition in 
life. We think, perhaps, as Emily did — that 
our blossoms would be finer, our leaves more 
luxuriant, if we were placed in what we fool- 
ishly call, better circumstances. Instead of seek- 
ing to remove the leaves that cover us in our 
own appointed place, and trying to avail our- 
selves of all the sunshine, or, in other words, 
of improving all our talents and opportunities 
in the station in which God has placed us, we 
indulge, sinful, discontented tempers ; and from 
that, perhaps proceed, without asking God's di- 
rection and guidance, to transplant ourselves in- 
to [some place, where we expect to have more 
of the good things of this world. Perhaps we 
comfort ourselves, as Emily did — by thinking 
we shall have such a hedge of good earth 
round us— that we shall be so attentive to our 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 33 

prayerSj so studious of our Bible, so shielded 
by the defences that we provide for ourselves 
against temptation — that our roots will keep 
fresh and green. But believe me, if we ven- 
ture thus far, we shall assuredly lose our Chris- 
tian graces ; we shall become dead plants in 
the garden of the Lord, and may soon perhaps, 
be rooted up as mere cumberers of the ground." 
I endeavored to improve the present oppor- 
tunity for the cultivation of a contented and 
thankful frame of mind, in each of my young 
companions. And I would earnestly endeavor 
to impress my juvenile readers with the import- 
ance of habitually seeking, not only to resist 
a discontented and murmuring spirit, but also 
your duty, undoubtedly ; and, it is equally cer- 
to cultivate Christian cheerfulness. This is 
tain, that it is your wisest and best course, if 
you consult your happiness alone. The demon 
discontent, when once permitted to find a lodg- 
ment in your minds, my young friends, will, 
like a canker, undermine your peace and enjoy- 



34 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

merit, as well as those of all your family. Be 
persuaded of your Heavenly Father's tender love 
towards you, and of his wise arrangements of 
all things for your best and truest happiness. 
He sends his rain at the appointed time to 
cause the decay of the brown covering with 
which he shields the little Arbutus during the 
winter season; and afterwards, the wind as 
his messenger, to remove its withered leaves, 
and thus open an access for the enlivening rays 
of the vernal sun in his appointed season. So 
doubt not, but believe confidently, whenever it 
is better for you to feel more of this world's 
prosperity, he can easily find means for so 
doinof. 



o* 



Thou, whose sad and darkling brow, 
Seems to tell of care and wo; 
Dost thou pore upon the cloud 
That futurity doth shroud? 
And thy trembling fancy fill 
With anticipated ill? 
Ask these flowerets of the field 
For the lessons they can yield. 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 35 

Hark! to fancy's listening car, 
Thus they whisper soft and clear: 
Heaven-appointed teachers we, 
Mortal ! we would counsel thee ; 
Gratefully enjoy to-day, 
If the sun vouchsafe his ray, 
If the darkling tempest lower, 
Meekly bend beneath the shower; 
But, oh! leave to-morrow's fare, 
To thy Heavenly Father's care. 
Does each day upon its wing 
Its allotted burden bring? 
Load it not besides with sorrow, 
Which belongeth to the morrow. 
Strength is promised, strength is given, 
When the heart by God is riven; 
But foredate the day of wo, 
And, alone ^ thou bear'st the blow ! 
T)nQ thing only claims thy care, — 
Seek thou first, by faith and prayer. 
That all-glorious v/orld above. 
Scene of righteousness and love; 
And whate'r thou need'st belovv-, 

He thou trustest will bestow. 

Anon. 



37 



HEPATICA TRILOBA. 

LIVERWORT OR LUNGWORT. 

Polyandria Polygynia. 

Calyx three leaved. Petals six to nine. Leaves partially 
evergreen, radical ones three lobed. Stalks one flow- 
ered. Flowers blue, white, or red. 

In our American climatej we are constantly 
liable to have our most delightful spring-like 
days, succeeded by others which are very cold, 
cloudy, and unpleasant to our natural feelings. 
Now, inasmuch as it is God who orders the 
kind of weather which we are to have on each 
returning day, and since the changeableness of 
our climate is proverbial, it is manifestly our 
duty, as well as our wisdom, to learn to bear 
with good humor and submission, the compa- 
ratively small trials, as well as the greater ones, 
which our Heavenly Father ordains for us. 

How often, however, do we find it otherwise. 
Many little boys and girls, as well as elder 



38 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

persons, are frequently to be seen fretful and 
discontentedj destroying their own peace, as well 
as annoying others ; when, if the cause of their 
ill-humor and peevish complainings were honest- 
ly avowed, they would prove to be secret re- 
bellion against the weather, which God in His 
wisdom sees best to send at particular times. 

When our hearts get into this sinful state of 
feeling, we are very apt to make our trials 
much more severe than they need be, by turn- 
ing away from such enjoyments as are within 
our reach, either from a perverse spirit, which 
does not choose to be happy except in its own 
way, or else from indolence, which will not 
take the trouble to search out such comforts 
as may still remain to us. 

Now, my dear young friends, it is a great 
secret of happiness, to be persuaded that the 
will of God is wiser and better than our 
own, and to give up ourselves as sweetly and 
as entirely to His guidance, as the little infant 
does to that of its earthly parent. It is the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 39 

strug2;le occasioned by our desire to have our 
own way, and the consciousness that God's 
will must be done, that causes us so much un- 
happiness; whereas, if we but implicitly leave 
every event of our lives, whether great or small, 
in His hands, we shall find pouring into our 
hearts a sweet peace, which is a far more de- 
lightful feeling than can possibly be tasted, 
when we have gone on frowardly in our own 
way. 

It Vv^a3 during the continuance of a period of 
cold and unseasonable weather, which had sud- 
denly succeeded a number of delightful, mild, 
May days, that I was pained b;; seeing a good 
deal of the peevishness which I have been 
lamenting, creeping over my little flock. Vari- 
ous expedients were tried to restore cheerful- 
ness, but all failed, for a very good reason : 
their hearts were out of tune, and, therefore, 
they found a root of bitterness in every thing. 

In the afternoon of one of those days, the 
sun appeared occasionally to cheer us, and the 



40 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

ground having been partially dried by the keen 
wind which had prevailed for many preceding 
hours, I proposed a walk to my young com- 
panions, in hopes of reviving their spirits by 
a little wholesome exercise. All of them as- 
sented gladly but Anna, who, though ordina- 
rily a very sweet little girl, was sometimes 
tempted to give way to a fretful and irritable 
temper, which, while it was unresisted, ren- 
dered her far from engaging. 

^^I wonder you think of walking," said she; 
"it is so chilly, windy, and disagreeable, that 
I am certain we shall not find any thing v/orth 
gathering. It is a great deal more like change- 
able, unpleasant April, than May." 

"Be patient, my dear!" I replied; "this very 
wind which is so annoying to you, is, we are 
told in the Bible, numbered among God's trea- 
sures, and has been called forth at His kind 
and gracious bidding, that it 'may do what- 
soever He commandeth upon the face of the 
world.' Windy days are of great service, Anna, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 41 

in bringing forward vegetation. The sap of 
trees and shrubs flows down during the au- 
tumn into the roots, and continues there, all the 
winter season. When God sees fit that it should 
rise up again, and clothe the 4ry and apparently- 
lifeless boughs. He sends the very winds which 
you complain of, as His ministering servants, 
to agitate the forests and shrubberies, and thus 
to give a quickening impulse to the sap, caus- 
ing it to flow up more readily into its accus- 
tomed channels. 

" I do not wish to force you to walk con- 
trary to your inclinations, but if you are in- 
clined to go, I think I can venture to assure 
you, that you will find one pretty little flower 
which, like a faithful friend, is ready to spring 
up to enliven us in a season like this^ when 
we most need its presence." 

Cheered by this assurance, my little friend 
made an effort to recover her good humor, and 
with the rest, was soon tripping along in the 
path I pointed out. Our route lay up one hill 



42 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

and down another, whose rugged and rocky 
sides were scantily covered with mould, over 
which a slight verdure only was perceptible. 
At length we began to descend one of the hills, 
whose slope was exposed to the south, thus re- 
ceiving whatever rays of the sun had been 
emitted during the last few days. We now 
renewed our search for wild flowers with fresh 
zeal, and some of our party who were in ad- 
vance of the others, were soon heard sending 
forth joyous exclamations, and declaring they 
had found some sweet blossoms. 

They darted forwards to show them to me, 
and learn their name. They were flowers of 
the modest and beautiful Hepatica Triloba^ 
that faithful little friend, whose presence cheers 
the botanist alike, in the wilds of America, 
and in the cultivated portions of her Middle 
and Western States, as well as in the mountain 
scenes of Europe. Unchanged by country or 
clime, the only variation the blossoms of the 
Hepatica Triloba present, is in the color of 



FLORAL EMBLEMS* 43 

its petals, which are sometimes found blue, and 
at others white or red. The leaves, which are 
of a partial evergreen kind, whether found 
growing in the rocky portions of the District 
of Columbia, among the beautiful Highlands 
of New- York State, or on the hilly parts of 
New- Jersey, from all of which localities I have 
gathered specimens, are uniformly alike, in shape 
and color, though varying somewhat in size. 

We filled our baskets with roots of the pret- 
ty Hepatica, and as we returned home, I di- 
rected the attention of my young friends to 
tufts of the green leaves which they had now 
learned to recognize, though as yet without 
blossoms. These were growing in numerous 
places in the clefts of the rocky path we had 
lately traversed. 

After the children had planted their precious 
roots in their gardens, and had collected round 
a cheerful fire, whose heat diffused a glow 
which was grateful even in May, one of them 
held up the blossom of an Hepatica, as if 



44 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

to remind me silently of my expected com- 
ment. 

'•You remarked, Maria," I observed, "that 
it was a little strange that we should not have 
found any Hepaticas in our late walks along 
the river side, and in the pleasant lowland val- 
ley. Perhaps you are not aware, that there 
are certain flowers which, while they look 
beautiful and luxuriant when planted in their 
native and poor soil, will sicken and die, if 
placed in a richer and damper one. 

" Now, my dear little friends, we may learn 
a useful lesson from this fact. The Bible, you 
know tells us, that while living in the world 
we are pilgrims, and have no abiding home. 
To-d^y, we may be found growing in some 
sunny spot, where our blossoms may be opening 
fresh and fair, and all around us, may seem so 
bright and happy, that we may flatter ourselves 
that to-morrow may be as to-day, and even better. 
But as you have transplanted these little flow- 
ers, without any warning, so may we, just as 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 45 

unexpectedly be removed by our Heavenly 
Father from our fairest dwelling places, to some 
rocky and desolate spots in that rough and 
thorny road, which is the general pathway from 
earth to heaven. I know, my dear young 
friends, that at your age we love not to be told, 
that we may have to travel up by this narrow 
and strait road to our heavenly home, and we 
love to encourage ourselves by the hope, that 
whatever may have been the experience of 
others, we at least shall reach that blessed spot 
by some more smooth and pleasant journey. 

" Will you bear with me a little while, and 
listen to one, who has trodden that path before 
you, and I will try to illustrate what I wish to 
say, by a reference to this little flower, which 
I am holding in my hand. 

"You were this morning wishing anxiously 
for a fresh n©segay to place in our glasses, but 
when one of your number found it could not 
be gathered without taking a cold and unin- 
viting walk, she turned away somewhat angrily. 



46 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

You did however, follow my advice, and found 
by so doing, pleasures which you would not 
have enjoyed had you stayed indolently at 
home, or had you sought them in the pleasant 
places in which you generally prefer to ramble. 
After you had discovered them, the rocky hill 
seemed to lose its disagreeable appearance, it 
became almost beautiful in your eyes by the 
presence of the sweet little Hepatica. So it is 
my children, with the children of God ; they 
often may be heard wishing they were better 
Christians, — that they had stronger faith in 
their Heavenly Father, — more love to him, — 
more meekness, — and more of every Christian 
grace, — and yet as soon as they learn that 
these blessings must be gained generally, only 
by those who follow in a path marked out 
by. their Lord and Master, — one of sorrow and 
affliction, — then they turn away frightened, and 
think they would rather have their portion 
' among the smooth stones of the stream.' 

^' You would not have been able to find the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 47 

pretty flowers which you now prize so much, 
had you searched for them in any but a rocky 
and sterile soil ; so may you my beloved ones, 
never realize until you are called to pass through 
the dark night of adversity, the preciousness of 
that divine Saviour whose love ^sticketh closer 
than that of a brother,' and may also then learn 
to test the affection of certain dear earthly 
friends, who seem especially born to give com- 
fort in the wintry season of sorrow and bereave- 
ment. 

"Tell me, Anna," I said, smiling, "did you 
not try to persuade yourself, that you could not 
possibly gather any thing pretty, when you 
saw where I was leading you?" 

"Yes," replied the little girl, frankly, ^'if I 
had not been sure you knew better than I did, 
I should have been quite certain, nothing worth 
gathering could have been found among those 
ugly black rocks." 

"And yet, my dear, when we did search 
closelyj we perceived there was enough to glad- 



48 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

den all your hearts, and make the wilderness 
smile in your eyes. So, be assured as we jour- 
ney on our way, even in our darkest hours, if 
we good humoredly try to discover the comforts 
that God has placed in our path, we shall find 
them to be so many, as to make our hearts 
continually swell with gratitude and praise to 
the giver of all our mercies." 

" Did you not say," enquired Mary, " that there 
was but one species of the Hepatica common, 
both to Europe and America?" 

" There is," I replied, " though the color of its 
petals is found to vary often from blue and pink 
to white. Thus the essential features of the 
Christian character are the same in every land 
and among all people. From the simple Green- 
lander, or benighted Hottentot, to the enlightened 
inhabitant of Europe or America, we shall 
uniformly find the true Christian, becoming 
humble as a little child, — sorrowing alike under 
a sense of sin and equally rejoicing to receive 
the promised Saviour, who is the Saviour not 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 49 

of one nation, or age only, but of all who 
believe. 

^^In another respect the Hepatica may read 
us an instructive lesson. Its leaves, I observed, 
retained their green hue, in ordinary circum- 
stances during the season. So the Bible com- 
pares the true Christian to a tree whose leaves 
do not wither, in the time of drought, or in the 
general decay of nature. The winter of death 
is, my children, you know, to come over us all, 
whether our lot be cast in the palace or in the 
cottage. To those who at that hour shall be 
found to have made the world alone their por- 
tion, whatever may have been their station, there 
will remain nothing to cheer or enliven, and all 
their loveliness and splendor will be found to 
wither, as the flower of the field at the approach 
of winter. Then however, will the true Chris- 
tian, whose lot may have been cast in the 
humblest walks of life, and every step of whose 
journey may have been taken along the rough 
and thorny road of adversity, shine forth in 



50 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

renewed beauty, and like the modest Hepatica 
bloom sweetly amid surrounding decay. She 
shall be transplanted by the heavenly husband- 
man, to the holy city, the new Jerusalem, where 
God himself shall wipe away all tears from her 
eyes. There will then to her, and to all God's 
people, be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
crying — neither shall there be any more pain ; 
for the former things shall have passed away.'' 

'^ There everlasting spring abides, 

And never-fading flowers; 
Death, like a narrow sea, divides 

This heavenly land from ours.** 



51 



HOUSTONIA CiERULEA. 

INNOCENCE, OR BLUETTS, 

Tetrandria Monogynia. 

Calyx, four toothed. Corolla tubular, four cleft. Radical 
leaves ovate, spatulate. Peduncles one flowered. Flow- 
er delicate blue, deeper at the extremities of the divisions 
of the corolla, melting into white towards the centre. 

The Daisy is the favorite flower of the poets 
of Britain ; and some of her choicest spirits 
have poured forth melodious notes in its praise. 
One of the most highly gifted among her 
modern bards, thus beautifully apostrophizes 
this '- modest, crimson-tipped flower" : 

Sweet flower! for by that name at last, 

When all my reveries are past, 

I call thee, and to that cleave fast, 

Sweet silent creature! 
That breath'st with me in sun and air, 
Do thou, as thou art wont, repair 
My heart with gladness, and a share 

Of thy meek nature! 

Wordsworth. 



52 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

We have no species of the Daisy indigenous 
to America, but there is a lovely little flower, 
one of the earliest harbingers of spring, to be 
found throughout our Eastern and Western 
States, whose modest beauty, indicative of the 
same "meek nature" as that of the Daisy, de- 
serves to give it in American hearts a place, 
corresponding to that which is held in the 
affections of Britons, by their favorite. 

I refer to the Houstonia Caerulea, or Inno- 
cence, whose beautiful azure, star-shaped blos- 
soms, are greeted by many young hearts, on 
each returning May, from New- Jersey to the 
banks of the Mississippi. This " bright flower, 
whose home is every where'' throughout the 
temperate parts of our vast Union, seems espe- 
cially entitled to the place which we would 
assign to it in American breasts; since the 
genus Houstonia, with but one exception, (that 
of the splendid Mexican Houstonia Coccinea,) is 
thus far confined to the United States. 

It was an especial favorite with my young 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 53 

friends, who never failed to welcome its appear- 
ance, with some tender expressions, indicative 
of the feelings with which they were wont to 
regard it. 

A day or two subsequent to that on which 
we had found the Hepatica, another of those 
sudden transitions occurred, so common in our 
changeable climate. "The rough wind;^ and 
" the east wind" had been stayed as of old — by 
the command of their Maker, and He had 
^•quieted the earth by the south wind;'' and 
"the bud of every tender herb sprang forth," 
with renewed beauty. How sweet is it to the 
Christian heart to walk forth into the country 
in such a day, when all the vegetable creation 
seems in the freshness of its new life, ready to 
respond to that invitation, so beautifully given 
in an ancient and fine Canticle: "0 all ye 
green things upon earth, bless ye the Lord; 
praise him and magnify him for ever !" 

The Christian has more than a two-fold en- 
joyment of the works of Nature^ above that 

E* 



54 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

which is furnished to those, whose hearts have 
not been renewed by the Spirit of God. He 
admires them for their own intrinsic beauty, 
and in addition, he has the delight of contemp- 
lating them as his Father's works — the ever- 
present and convincing proofs of His love and 
tender mercy. ^'I feel that I am not alone," 
said the holy Martyn, "if I have but one 
leaf to contemplate, for it is my Father's work- 
manship." 

How important is it to teach our children, 
from their earliest years, to regard the great 
God, as the reconciled Parent of sinners through 
Christ Jesus, and to accustom them to carry 
all their joys and sorrows to him, and from 
the heart to lift up the constant supplication of 
Abba, Father. To be called to the knowledge 
of God in early life, is the greatest of all 
earthly blessings, though many strangely ques- 
tion the possibility of a little child's mind being 
competent to take in the mysterious truths 
of the Gospel. The case of Timothy in the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 55 

New Testament, and of Samuel in the Old, 
both of whom are recorded as having known 
God from early life, should effectually silence 
all those, who are disposed to cavil on this 
point. 

My mind was led to reflect on the precious- 
ness and loveliness of infant piety on the day 
to which I have referred. We had gone out 
purposely in search of the lovely little Hous- 
tonia Caerulea, or Innocence. We had found 
the beautifully grassy slopes enamelled with its 
modest azure blossoms, and as I seated myself 
on a rock to rest, while the young botanists 
were engaged in making up their delicate flow- 
ers into nosegays, I could not help comparing 
them, in this their season of comparitive inno- 
cence, when as I hoped the day of small things 
was already giving an earnest, of what their 
natures would become, when wholly sanctified 
by Him, to whose blessed service they had been 
dedicated in infancy by the holy rite of bap- 
tism, to that lovely, but humble plant, whose 



56 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

meek and quiet beauty had obtained for it so 
appropriate a name. 

When all the young members of our happy 
bandj had gathered a satisfactory quantity of 
their favorite flowers, they seated themselves 
around me, some on the rocks, and. others on 
the trunks of prostrate trees, and begged me to 
let the Innocence furnish the floral emblem for 
the day. 

I told them what ideas had passed through 
my mind, while I had been watching them col- 
lect the pretty blossoms; and further expressed 
my earnest wish, that they might be found now 
in the days of their youth, gladdening the 
church and garden of the Lord, in like manner, 
as the lovely Innocence, was beautifying the 
verdant slope, on which we were then seated. 

" You love to gaze, my children," I exclaimed, 
"on these modest and meek Houstonias, which 
have reared their slender stalks but an inch or 
more, from the bosom of the earth ; you find 
an additional charm thrown over them by their 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 57 

very diminutivenesSj and perhaps^ none, of the 
taller or more stately beauties of the field or 
garden, will be cherished with the same exceed- 
ing tenderness. In like manner, we have reason 
to think our Heavenly Father regards with es- 
pecial favor, the lambs of his flock; the bles- 
sed Redeemer carried them in his bosom, lays 
his hand upon them and announces to his 
church, that ' of such is the kingdom of 
Heaven.' The same meekness, docility, child- 
like submissiveness, and implicit confidence, as 
is manifested by the little child to its earthly 
parent, must be exhibited by the converted sin- 
ner to his Heavenly Father, or else the divine 
Redeemer assures him he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of Heaven. 

'^ There are, I doubt not, my dear young 
friends, at this moment to be found in the 
heavenly Jerusalem, a multitude that no man 
can number of all kindreds, and tongues, who 
have been gathered to God in the days of in- 
fancy. Scarce any large family in our com- 



58 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

munity can be found, who has not one repre- 
sentative in that blessed company, while many 
have had one. after another, of their choicest 
buds plucked in their opening beauty from a 
home on earth, to expand in matured loveli- 
ness, and to enlarge to angel size in the Para- 
dise of God. 

" It is indeed, my beloved ones, hard to resign 
such young nurslings as you, and our infant 
scions, into the hands of the Heavenly Hus- 
bandman. In our blindness, self-will, and de- 
voted affection, we are sometimes found be- 
seeching the Lord importunately, and without 
that deference to His will which becomes us, 
to spare at all hazards our children to us, that 
we may train them up for His service on earth, 
when did we but know what would be the 
consequences of our imperfect and erring man- 
agement, we might well be resigned to see 
them removed before actual transgression had 
separated them from his favor. 

"It is computed that a very large proportion 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 59 

of our race die in infancy ; and this fact is to 
the Christian a fresh demonstration of the good- 
ness and mercy of God. For multitudes ^of 
these little ones are thus gathered to God, who 
were their lives spared, might be soon openly 
estranged from Him by the commission of ac- 
tual sin, and who would be exposed inevitably, 
some, to the dreadful pollutions of idolatry, 
others, to superstitious or corrupt forms of a 
false religion, and many, to the influence of 
wicked or entirely worldly parents." 

I afterwards took occasion to urge my young 
friends, to devote themselves now, in the morn- 
ing of their lives, more entirely to the service 
of their Heavenly Father, assuring them of 
the happiness which true religion aflbrds to all, 
who submit themselves early to her mild and 
easy yoke. I told them of many dear children 
who had thus in their infant years, been conse- 
crated to God, and who were now rejoicing, 
and would forever rejoice in Heaven, that they 
had chosen the Lord for their God, ^' before the 



60 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

evil days came, or the years drew nigh/' when 
they might have said, "I have no pleasure in 
them." I then, as we walked home, repeated 
the following stanzas, as appropriate to our 
present subject. 

LINES 

ON THE DEATH OF AN INFANT DAUGHTER. 

I. 

Sw6et babe! she glanced into our world to see 

A sample of our misery, 

Then turned away her languid eye 

To drop a tear or two, and die. 

Sweet babe! she tasted of life's bitter cup, 

Refused to drink the potion up ! 

But turned her little head aside. 

Disgusted with the taste, and died. 

Sweet babe ! she listened for awhile to hear 

Our mortal griefs, then turned her ear 

To angels' harps and songs, and cried — 

To join their notes celestial, sighed, and died. 

IL 

Sweet babe no more, but seraph now; 
Before the throne behold her bow; 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 61 

To heavenly joys her spirit flies, 

Blest in the triumphs of the skies; 

Adores the grace that brought her there, 

Without a wish — without a care. 

That washed her soul in Calvary's stream, 

That shortened life's distressing dream. 

Short pain — short grief — dear babe, was thine j 

Now joys eternal and divine. 

III. 

Yes, thou art fled, and saints a welcomo sing, 
Thine infant spirit soars on angel's wing; 
Our dark affection would have hoped thy stay, 
The voice of God has called His child away. 
Like Samuel, early in the temple found. 
Sweet rose of Sharon, plant of holy ground. 
Oh! more than Samuel blest ^ to thee 'tis given 
The God he served on earth, to serve in Heaven. 

J. W. CuNM-maHAM. 



63 



MONOTROPA UNIFLORA, 

DECAXDRIA r^IOXOG-YXIA. 

Indian-pipe — Wax-Jlower. 

Stem one-flowered. Flower nodding at first, afterwards 
erect. Partially poly-petatous, persistent. Stem scaly. 
Whole plant of an ivory whiteness, destitute of proper 
leaves and verdure. Parasitic upon the roots of trees. 

Many of my young readers may probably 
live in the country, and have gardens of their 
own, which they delight to cultivate. Now, 
as I have observed previously, the love of fiow- 
ers, as it is natural to most children, so may 
it, when it is not carried too far, and when it 
is not permitted to interfere w;ith duty, provide 
for them innocent, healthful, and profitable re- 
creation. There is something which endears 
gardening to us, my dear children, in the 
thought, that while our first parents were inno- 
cent, the business, and as far as we can learn, 



64 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

the only business allotted them by God, was 
^4o dress and keep" the fair garden of Eden. 
The Word of God does not tell us very parti- 
cularly, what were the daily occupations of Adam 
and Eve in their blessed abode, but one of our 
sweetest as well as finest poets, whose great 
poem, called Paradise Lost, I hope you will all 
one day love to study, describes the situation 
of Eve as he fancied it might have been, when 
the great enemy of man first attempted to 
seduce her, into disobedience to God: 

*'Eve separate, he spies; 
VeiPd in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood, 
Half spy'd, so thick the roses blushing round 
About her glow'd, oft stooping to support 
Each flower of slender stalk, whose head, though gay. 
Carnation, purple, azure, or speck'd with gold, 
Slung drooping unsustained; them she upstays 
Gently with myrtle band; mindless the while 
Herself, though fairest unspotted flower. 
From her best prop so far, and storm so nigh." 

Whether Eve was actually thus occupied we 
know not, but this one thing we are assured 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 65 

of, that she was really at the time when Satan 
succeeded in overcoming her and leading her 
into sin, dwelling in the midst of the beauties 
of Eden, and away from all evil companions ; 
nevertheless he found her then and made her 
captive. 

Thus you see, my dear young friends, that 
we must never presume to think we are quite 
secure from the danger of temptation, even 
when we are engaged in the most innocent 
occupations, so long as we carry about with us 
these earthly bodies, which are ready to become 
the means of introducing sinful thoughts and 
feelings, and of overcoming our best and holiest 
resolutions. 

To convince you that I do not think, there 
is no dansfer of our lettin^: even the love of 
flowers grow upon us so much, as to become 
somewhat idolatrous, I will tell you a story 
about one of my little friends, who was not 
only fond of her garden, but also of those 
pleasant rambles, into the woods and along the 



66 FLORAL EMBLEM.S. 

pretty stream, which I have previously de- 
scribed. 

On one occasion, I was sick and not able to 
take my accustomed walks. It was then a 
great pleasure to my young friends^ when they 
had been obedient, amiable and diligent, to 
ramble into the adjoining wood, and bring me 
some pretty nosegays. 

One very warm afternoon in July, several of 
them came on such an errand to my apartment. 
I was immediately struck with something pecu- 
liar in one of them, whom I have before de- 
signated by the name of Anna. She walked 
very slowly, and carried some dark-looking 
leaves in her hand, which, without speaking, she 
laid on my lap. I looked earnestly at my little 
friend as I gave my afternoon salutation, and 
observed that her face was much flushed, and 
that her eyes were wet with tears. 

^^What is the matter, my dear?" I inquired. 

^' Oh ! " she exclaimed, " I am so disappoint- 
ed ! We have been walking about the wood, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 67 

until we got quite tired, in hopes of finding 
something pretty for your glass. At last Mary 
and Ij saw some beautiful white flowers grow- 
ing at the root of an oak tree, and they looked 
so pretty, so much like snowy waxen blossoms, 
that we picked them all, and put them in our 
baskets. The other girls could find nothing at 
all, for every thing seems out of bloom now, 
but they did not mind it much, for they thought 
ours, were so beautiful, that you could make 
a very pretty lesson from them. All the while 
we were walking home, we were thinking what 
would be the moral, from our white flowers, 
and we were so long about that, we quite forgot 
to look at them. Only think how badly we 
felt, when we opened our baskets. See ! they 
have grown ugly and black, and besides they 
smell very disagreeable." Here little Anna's 
tears rolled down afresh, and she looked, I am 
sorry to say, quite peevish and cross. 

I waited some time for her to recover her 
composure, and when they were all seated 



68 FLORAL EMBLEMS, 

around me, I said gently to Anna, "Do you 
remember, my dear little girl, when I read to 
you some weeks since, the history of Jonah? 
You said it was very strange for the prophet 
to get angry with God, merely because his 
gourd was killed; you seemed to think that 
you should not have acted thus. And yet, my 
love, now, that you find withering, a few little 
flowers, and not a pleasant vine, whose luxuriant 
shade was to afford shelter under the rays of 
a burning sun, you venture to feel impatient, 
and I fear much vexed.'' 

There was a struggle of some minutes con- 
tinuance, in the heart of little Anna, during 
which we all regarded her with deep interest. 
At length principle triumphed, and throwing 
her arms around my neck, she sobbed out her 
confession of sin and her penitence. 

As I wiped her tearful cheek, I bade her take 
her withered flowers, and keep them carefully; 
and when hereafter tempted to blame another 
and think she herself might have done better 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 69 

in the same situatioiij to remember these faded 
leaves and learn to judge them not. As I picked 
up one of them, I was asked, if I had ever 
seen any of the kind before. I replied that 
I knew the plant well, that its beauty had often 
been remarked by me; its name, I said, was 
the Monotropa-uniflora ; Indian-pipe or Wax- 
flower. 

One of the elder girls inquired anxiously, 
whether it might not furnish a lesson for 
them. 

"Yes, my dear," I replied, "it has often 
struck me as a beautiful and somewhat striking 
emblem of some very important religious truths. 
In the first place, you observed its exceeding 
whiteness. Now in the Scriptures, the saints 
of God are spoken of repeatedly, as being 
^clothed in white robes,' as having 'washed 
their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb.' Tell me, when did these little 
flowers strike you by their snowy appear^ 
ance?" 



70 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

"When we first saw them, before we picked 
them," they replied. 

" In what were they growing ?" Were they 
Hke other plants imbedded in the earth, 
and receiving nomishment from it?" I again 
asked. 

^^ No," said Anna, quickly, " they were fastened 
tight upon the root of a large oak." 

" Observe this fact, my dear children ! The 
Monotropa is never found except attached to 
the root of lofty trees — so long as it continues 
there, it looks fair and lovely, and presents no 
disfiguring stains. Then too, its perfumes are 
agreeable. So soon however, as it is severed 
from this connection with the oak, it becomes 
spotted, blackened, and loses soon every vestige 
of beauty ; then its agreeable odor is exchanged 
for a nauseous scent. Our blessed Redeemer 
is called in Scripture, Hhe root of David.' The 
Christian must be attached to him by a living 
faith ; so soon as he is separated from his Lord, 
he loses his spiritual beauty; without the life- 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 71 

giving nourishment derived from him, ^the root 
of David/ he would sicken and die. His 
prayers while united to his Lord, ascend to 
Heaven as sweet incense in the censer of his 
great High Priest, but departing habitually 
from him, he presents nothing but what is 
offensive and displeasing to a holy and right- 
eous God." 

My young friends looked grave, and expressed 
their anxiety lest they might ever become in the 
sight of God, thus withered and offensive. ^^ We 
are all so," I said, "by nature; "we are not 
naturally connected with Jesus our Redeemer, 
neither can we become so, until our hearts are 
changed by the Holy Spirit. Even after his 
nature is renewed, the Christian is continually 
liable to fall into sin ; but then he is not hereby 
entirely cast off by his Lord, unless he inten- 
tionally and habitually departs from him. 
Even at the close of his best days, the honest 
Christian my dear children, feels that he needs 
to go and ^ wash his feet,' as our Saviour directed 



72 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

his disciples to do, in the precious fountain of 
the Redeemer's blood. ^He that is washed/ said 
our Lord/ (that is justified by faith,) ^needeth 
not, save to wash his feet, but is clean every 
whit.' John xiii. 10. Nevertheless sin does not 
reign in his heart. God has opened his eyes 
to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and he is 
continually praying and striving to be more and 
more free from its power and pollution ; but 
while in his own sight he will seem to be cov- 
ered with sin and defilement, in the eyes of 
his fellow creatures he will often appear fair^ 
and lovely, as the Monotropas you saw bloom- 
ing on the root of the oak." 

Before my young friends left my apartment, 
they sang together part of the following hymn, 
which I selected for them, as appropriate to our 
present subject. 

"Vain are our fancies, vain our flights, 

If faith be cold and dead; 
None but a living power unites 

To Christ, tho living Head. 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 73 

The faith which new creates the heart, 

And works by active love, 
Will bid all sinful joys depart, 

And lift to thoughls above. 

God from the ciirsa has set us free, 

To make us pure within; 
Nor did he send his Son to be 

The minister of sin»" 




<^ I len & VI rgini ca, 
or Scarl&t C atohfly . 



75 



SILENE VIRGINICA, 

SCARLET CATCHFLY. 

Decandria Prigynia, 

Calyx cylindric. Petals five, crowned at the orifice. Bifid, 
Leaves lanceolate. Whole plant viscidly pubescent. 

After collecting a bunch of flowerSj you 
have no doubt; my dear young friendSj often 
gazed vrith admiration and astonishment, at 
their rich and varied colors. But you proba- 
bly are not aware, of the wonderful secrets 
which in the progress of science, have been 
laid open, explaining the diversities, which you 
have so much loved to contemplate. 

Can you tell me why the violet is blue, the 
rose pink, and the lily white? You will doubt- 
less reply, because God wishes them to be so. 
Truly he does wish them to be so, and thus 
to increase the loveliness of nature ; but do you 
know that these beautiful varieties of shade and 



76 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

coloring, are effectedj by the action of the rays 
of Ught upon thenij and the fact of one being 
blue, and the other pink, has been proved to be 
occasioned, by the great God having formed the 
violet in such a manner, that it will reflect 
only one of the colors of which light is com- 
posed. That each ray of light, is capable of 
being separated into seven colors, you have 
doubtless often heard, and seen displayed in the 
distinct and beautifully colored lines of the 
rainbow. 

My object is not to perplex your young 
minds with things that are above your compre- 
hension at your present age, which would be 
of no service to you ; I shall not therefore even 
attempt to relate to you, any of the wonderful 
discoveries of learned men of the present and 
past age, with respect to light. My wish is 
rather to lead you to the observation of such 
facts as you can readily perceive, and thus to 
impress j^our hearts with a more humble and 
reverential sense of the goodness, love and 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 77 

wisdom of our Almighty Creator, who has so 
formed every part of this great universe, that 
it shall exert an influence over the other, and 
that for the increase of our enjoyment, and the 
promotion of our comfort. 

You feel grateful, my dear young friends, to 
your kind and affectionate parents, for their 
attention to your happiness, as you mark the 
various instances of it, which every day's expe- 
rience presses upon you; how much more then, 
should our hearts swell with constant thank- 
fulness to our Heavenly Father, who though so 
far elevated above us, as to make us appear but 
as grasshoppers in comparison, has nevertheless 
shown the most gracious and condescending 
attention, in making us not only comfortable, 
but happy. 

*'He has made all nature, beauty to the eye 
And music to the ear. " 

If my young readers are disposed to listen 
to me, I will relate a few more incidents con- 



78 FLORAL EMBLEMS, 

nected with a walk into the woods, which 
will illustrate what I have been saying, about 
the necessary connection between the coloring 
of flowers, and the action of the rays of light 
upon them. One afternoon in July, our little 
party set out on another of our pleasant ram- 
bles into the country. As I was desirous of 
procuring a certain beautiful plant, which is 
not to be found in the damp lowlands, or 
among the rocks, we bent our steps in a con- 
trary direction, and sought rather the open 
common, and dry road side. 

After seeking for a long time in vain, we 
came upon a spot, which had once been 
covered with an oak wood, but from which all 
the tall oaks had long been removed, as was 
proved by the numerous remains of blackened 
and mouldering stumps of former trees. No- 
thing but low brushwood now remained. This 
was a site favorable to the growth of the plant 
of which I was in quest, and my young 
companions and myself were soon engaged in 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 79 

searching for it. In a few minutes, several 
voices at the same moment proclaimed that they 
had found something handsome. The children 
hastened towards me eager to show their seve- 
ral prizes. They were all specimens of the 
same plant, the beautiful Silene Yirginica, or 
Scarlet Catchfly, whose glowing scarlet petals, 
arrest the attention, and excite the liveliest 
admiration, in the breast of the botanist, as he 
explores the openings in the western forests. 
At the moment my companions approached me, 
bearing in triumph their showy bouquets, whose 
rich coloring the most skilful artist might in 
vain have sought to rival, I accidentally over- 
turned the shell of an old stump, which had 
shaded thoroughly a section of this open glade 
of about a yard in length, and of about half 
that in diameter. Some plants of the Silene, had 
been effectually shaded under the arched roof 
of the prostrate hollow oak, so completely 
indeed, by its means and by the brush, at 
either extremity, that scarce any light had appa- 



80 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

rently found entrance to its dark recess. The 
leaves of these plants, instead of presenting the 
same shade of lively green, as those, which 
had grown in the full blaze of light, were of 
the most pale and sickly yellow. And while 
examining them, it was difficult to detect any 
resemblance to the matured beauty and rich 
green of the Silene, which were brought to me 
at this moment. I bade my young friends 
observe the striking contrast which was pre- 
sented by the two, and endeavor to account for 
the difference. They were quite baffled, for 
as yet they were ignorant of the effect of 
light in coloring plants. I endeavored to 
explain the subject in as clear a manner as I 
was able, and assured them, that in the simple 
facts which we had that day observed, we had 
a striking proof of the truth of the Bible. 

^^How can that be?" they exclaimed, and 
looked incredulously at the two specimens of 
the Silene, which I was holding in my hand. 

I observed in reply, that in former days, the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 81 

enemies of revelation brought forward as an 
objection to the Mosaic account of the creation, 
that hght and vegetation were both represented 
as existing, previous to the creation of the sun. 
They declared that light could not have pre- 
ceded the appearance of the sun ; the presence of 
that luminary being, as they asserted, actually 
necessary to the existence of light and to the 
growth of all vegetable substances ; therefore the 
Bible must be false, since it pretended to fix the 
creation of what they called the foundation of 
life and light at a later period, than what they 
presumptuously decided to be necessary. "But, 
my dear children," I continued, "in later times 
the wise and learned have discovered, that light 
is something which exists independently of the 
sun, and likewise that seeds and plants must be 
sowed and placed in darkness, before they can 
begin to vegetate. But it is impossible for them 
to bloom or bear fruit, unless they are exposed 
to the rays of the sun. Thus, my dear children, 
our sickly-looking Silene, which has been kept 



82 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

shielded from the action of the sun, may have 
given us a specimen of what vegetation was, be- 
fore the creation of that glorious luminary, and 
thus have been a silent witness to the truth of 
God's blessed Word. Let us transplant some 
of them to our sunny borders, taking care by 
slow degrees to expose them to the full blaze 
of the sun, and we shall then find them serving 
another purpose ; their increased beauty and 
healthfulness, and their brilliant blossoms will 
help to remind us of the great goodness of God, 
in making that great 4ight to rule the day,' 
which from the period when he was placed in 
the centre of the universe by Almighty Wisdom, 
has been acting on our earth in a manner the 
most conducive to our health, happiness and our 
enjoyment." 

I then turned to one of the little girls, and 
inquiredj if she could tell me, who was in 
the New Testament, called the Light of the 
world. 

^^ Jesus our Lord," she replied, "is said to be 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 83 

4he true Light which lighteth every man that 
cometh into the world.' " 

'^He is my dear," I answered, "indeed the 
true Lightj and the only one, which is capable 
of enlightening our eyes^ or of purifying our 
hearts. Let us take a lesson, my children, from 
the plants we have gathered to-day ; those which 
grew under the dark and shady cover of the 
oak, were unsightly and stinted in their ap- 
pearance, while those which have been exposed 
to the healthful and refreshing sunshine, are 
full of life and beauty. So while our hearts 
are in the darkness of their natural state, they 
are unlovely in the sight of God, and incapable 
of bearing fruit to his glory ; let but his blessed 
light shine into them, and immediately they will 
be irradiated with new beauty, and ^ as the lily 
among the thorns,' so will God's children ap- 
pear in the midst of an evil and corrupt world.'^ 

"What a pity these beautiful flowers have 
such a stickiness about them," said one of the 
little ones, as we were returning home. ^^ See ! 



84 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

my jfingers are covered with it. I wonder what 
that can be an emblem of ? " 

^'We may be, my dear," said I smilingly, 
^^ hereby taught that the fairest, and most pre* 
cious objects in this world must be held cau- 
tiously. Jacob, you know, made an idol of his 
beloved Joseph, and therefore God saw it neces- 
sary, to make that amiable and affectionate 
child an instrument to chasten his father, and 
thus to bring his heart back from an idolatrous 
love of the creature, to a more simple, scriptural, 
devotion to the Giver of all his mercies. This 
is a lesson whiph we have all to learn, my young 
friends; we are so prone to set up one idol 
aiter another in our hearts, that it is well to take 
a hint on the subject from this pretty flower. 
When any earthly object is engrossing such a 
share of our thoughts, our time, our affections, 
as to interfere with our duty to our Lord and 
Saviour, then, let us remember our pretty Catch- 
flies, and endeavor not to grasp them too closely 
to our hearts." 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 85 

I then repeated the following verses of Scrip- 
ture, which they had committed to memory 
previously : " Love not the world, neither the 
things that are in the world. If any man love 
the world, the love of the Father is not in 
him. For all that is in the world, the lust of 
the flesh, the lust of .the eyes, and the pride of 
life, is not of the Father, but of the world. 
And the world passeth away, and the lust 
thereof; but he that doeth the will of God 
abideth for ever." 

The Silenes which had been removed from 
their former unhealthy position, were carefully 
transplanted, and by dint of great care in shea- 
ding and watering, soon became green and lux- 
uriant, and before m.any weeks, threw up stalks 
of fine scarlet flowers, whose appearance greatly 
delighted the young gardeners. 

As we were admiring them one evening, I 
told my young friends, that they struck me, as 
presenting another striking illustration of reli- 
gious truth. This they were eager to learn, 

H 



86 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

and as Ave walked up and down our garden, 
I proceeded to gratify them. 

"I have been much interested to day, my 
dear children, in reading the account of the 
great sufferings, to which the French Protes- 
tants were subjected by their king, Louis XIV, 
at the time when he published his famous 
• Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.' A former 
king, Henry IV., had granted certain precious 
privileges to the Protestants in his kingdom, 
such as, the liberty to attend publicly on the 
religious services of their church, to possess 
copies of the Scriptures, and a full share of the 
civil rights possessed by all his subjects. 

" It was in the year 1685, that this un- 
righteous decree was passed, by which all these 
blessings were at once declared to be forfeited 
by every Protestant subject of the French king, 
unless he would renounce his faith and openly 
join the Popish religion. It would be difficult 
for you, living as you have always done, in a 
country, where such perfect freedom is enjoyed, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 87 

to realize the horrors to which the whole 
Protestant portion of France, was subjected by 
this one edict of the king. The pastors were 
forced to flee, or else be thrown into prisons 
of the most frightful kind. One of the most 
terrible kinds of punishment inflicted on the 
faithful Protestants, was that, by which they 
were condemned to the gallies for life. One of 
those excellent men, who was sentenced to this 
terrible doom, was Monsieur Le Fevre. He 
had been an eminent lawyer, but in his thirty- 
seventh year, he was arrested on account of 
his religion. He was covered with fetters, and 
then attached to an iron chair, which passing 
through a part of his fetters, united him to 
some thirty or forty companions, in the same 
miserable condition, and in this state he was 
driven as a bond-slave, with a burning fever, 
and his frame racked by suffering, to the 
destined sea port. When he reached Marseilles 
(in France,) he was pronounced too ill to work, 
and was then put in the hospital, where he en- 



88 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

dured exceeding sufferings. When sufficiently 
recovered, he was put on board the galley to 
which he was attached, though unable to row. 
Finally he was removed to a dungeon in the 
Fort St. John, which had formerly been used 
for horses, but proving too unwholesome for 
them^ it was given up to the use of the Pro- 
testants. In this damp, cold, and dark retreat, 
which was filled with loathsome vermin, with- 
out any decent clothing or fire, and kept on 
the most miserable diet, and that of the scan- 
tiest measure, did this excellent servant of God 
linger out ten long years of suffering, and at 
times, of extreme bodily anguish. But, my 
children, even under such circumstances, he 
was not only resigned, but happy. 

*' The oppressor held indeed his body bound, 
But knew not what a range his spirit took, 
Unconscious of a chain." 

Like your imprisoned flowers, life was preserved 
to him even amid the darkness of the prison 
house, and in the tenth and last year of his 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 89 

dreary confinement, he was found sending forth 
praises to God, from his loathsome dungeotfi. 
Like them too, he was transplanted in God's 
own good time, not indeed to an earthly place 
of sunshine, but by death his ransomed and 
happy soul, found a blessed and joyful release, 
and from the lowest depth of earthly abasement 
— ^from a wretched dungeon — his spirit took its 
happy flight to the Paradise of God, where 
with " the noble army of martyrs," and the rest 
of the church of the redeemed, he shall shine 
for ever and ever. Oh ! my children, may we 
all too ^die the death of the righteous, and 
liiay our last end be like his.' Amen." 

My young friends were deeply moved by the 
recital of the sufferings of this excellent ser- 
vant of God, and from its association with his 
history, the transplanted Silene became an ob- 
ject of increased interest, and they v\rere ac- 
customed playfully to term it, the "martyr's 
flower." 



91 



IMPATIENS FULVA. 

TOTJCH-ME-NOT, OR JEWEL WEED. 

Pentandria Monogynia. 

Calyx two leaved, deciduous. Corolla irregular, spurred, 
spotted. Leaves irregularly ovate. Whole plant sensi- 
tive to touch, and withering immediately on being 
plucked. 

The exquisite sensibility to touch, exhibited 
by some plants, and the spontaneous movements 
of others, have exercised the ingenuity of the 
-wise and learned, in order to ascertain the 
cause of the phenomena. An impression made 
in the most delicate manner, on one of the 
pinnated leaves of the Mimosa Sensitiva, for 
example, will be immediately communicated to 
all the other leaflets, and they will enclose in 
a moment from view all their upper surfaces, 
as if to bury within their covering the wound 
to their sensitive feelings, which may have 
been most unintentionally inflicted. 



92 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

The learned Sir James Smith who devoted 
the energies of his enlightened mind to the 
study of botany, asserts, that ^'it is in vain to 
attempt any mechanical solution of this phe- 
nomena." 

There are certain plants, indigenous both to 
our Eastern and Western States, which exhi- 
bit sensibility to touch, like the delicate Mimo- 
sa, though not to so great a degree; among 
them, is the Impatiens Fulva or Touch-me-not, 
with respect to which, I have a few incidents 
to relate. 

"Look!" said one of my young friends, as 
we were walking on the side of a murmuring 
ril], one summer afternoon, " Look ! at those 
beautiful orange blossoms on the opposite side 
of the stream. I am determined to have some ! 
they will look so beautiful in our glasses, when 
mixed with our other pale flowers !" 

" Perhaps, you would be disappointed, Emily,'^ 
I replied, " if you were to gather those flowers. 
At any rate, you will run the risk of getting 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 93 

wet feet, in picking them, and if you will fol- 
low my advice, you will not make the attempt; 
you remember the old proverb, " All is not gold 
that glitters." 

^^I know that well," said she, "but then I 
shall like these flowers, because I can see them 
perfectly well, and a pretty blossom cannot very 
well deceive me at this short distance. So if 
you will not think me obstinate, I will even 
run the risk of getting a little soaking." 

Without stopping to hear what opinion I 
might pronounce on her conduct, the eager child 
pressed forwards over the stepping stones, 
which lay across the shallow stream, in pursuit 
of the plant, whose brilliant golden blosoms, 
had attracted her admiration. The stones pro- 
ved but an insecure footing, and more than 
once she came down into the water, which 
was but a few inches in depth, but still served ef- 
fectually to wet both her clothes and stockings. 

It was in vain, we uttered our expostulations, 
she heeded them not in her eagerness, and 



94 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

when she reached the opposite shore, she has- 
tily plucked piece after piece from the bush, 
and vauntingly held them up to our gaze, chal- 
lenging our admiration. 

As soon as she had returned, I examined the 
state of her feet, and finding them very wet, I 
gently rebuked her, for her self-willed beha- 
viour. ^^See my dear, the consequences of your 
persisting to act in opposition to my advice. 
We must all give up our pleasant walk, and 
return home immediately, lest you should suffer 
for your rashness. And what have you gained 
by it?" 

The little girl was distressed, for she had not 
intended to be so selfish, and she walked on 
for some moments in mortified silence, forgetting 
in the emotion of the moment, the flowers 
which had thus been the means of leading her 
astray. Suddenly, however, her attention was 
drawn to them by one of her companions who 
exclaimed, "why, Emily, what is the matter 
with your flowers!" 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 95 

They had indeed completely withered, and 
Emily no sooner beheld them and found they 
had faded in grasping them^^ than she looked 
on mOj and with tears of ingenuous contrition 
rolling down her cheeks, she said in a subdued 
tone, " I am justly punished for my self will, 
and unwillingness to listen to your advice. I 
was very positive and naughty. Will you for- 
give me ?" I cordially assured her of my for- 
giveness, and told her that she and her little 
flower, had furnished us with an appropriate 
lesson for the day. This the children were 
eager to learn, but in accordance with my 
wishes, they agreed to defer the pleasure of 
hearing it, until we had returned home, and 
Emily had dried her feet. 

When they were collected around me, under 
the shade of a pleasant arbour, the little girl 
who had unintentionally provided us with a 
floral emblem for the day, produced her faded 
flowers, and laying them in my lap, said in 
a tone of humility, ^^I was going to throw them 



96 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

away, for looking at them made me feel how 
foolish as well as naughty I had been ; but 
afterwards I thought you might like to have 
them, and so I brought them. You know I 
deserve to be a little mortified." 

I thanked her for her attention, and assured 
her, that no one would feel disposed to laugh 
at her expense, since she had been so ready 
to acknowledge her errors. ^-You were so 
eager, Emily," I then observed, "this afternoon, 
in seeking for the object on which you had set 
your heart, that you did not wait to inquire 
its name. Had you done so, you would pro- 
bably have learned a little wisdom." 

"What is its name?" she asked with appa- 
rent interest. 

" Its botanical name." I replied, " is the Im- 
patiens Fulva; its common one, Touch-me-not. 
Both of these appellations, would have led you, 
to suspect its susceptibility to touch, and thus 
have warned you not to be so positive. If 
you do not suffer, Emily, too severely for your 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 97 

self-willed persistence in having your own way 
to-day, I shall not regret what has occurred; 
since you, and your young friends may learn 
several lessons which it is highly important 
should be impressed deeply on your hearts, at 
an early age. Your eye, my dear child, was 
struck by the golden blossoms of the Impatiens, 
and without stopping to inquire whether it was 
worth gathering, or being willing to listen to 
the advice which warned you of dangers in 
your way, in seeking its possession, you hur- 
ried forwards, determined at all risks to have 
the flower. And what have you gained, my 
dear? Your flowers perished in your grasp, 
and have left nothing to recompense you for 
your peril and trouble ! 

••As you travel on, in your journey through 
this world, my young friends, you will often 
have your eyes dazzled by some objects which 
are not advisable, and by others which are not 
lawful for a Christian to seek after. They may 
have an enchantment in their appearance, part- 



98 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

ly referable, to the distance at which you view 
them, and partly, to your ignorance of their 
fleeting and unsatisfactory nature, and the snares 
and trials, which lie in the way of their attain- 
ment. When such temptations beset you in 
future life, think, I intreat you, of the Impa- 
tiens, and be wise. Emily saw it blooming 
with brilliant bells, and was sure its possession 
would add to her enjoyment, and in seeking 
for it, she knowingly exposed herself to danger. 
The prize she indeed gained, and in doing so 
encountered what may perhaps hereafter cause 
her sickness and discomfort ; but after the Im- 
patiens was in her grasp, she found that like 
most other forbidden gratifications, it proved to 
be vanity of vanities." 

After I had paused for a few moments, Maria 
inquired, what other lessons the Touch-me-not 
was to give them ; " for you know," she said, 
" there were several things which we were to 
learn from it." 

^'I am quiet willing, my dear," I replied. 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 99 

"that this flower should give us all the moral 
lessons, which it is capable of imparting. I 
was only fearful of wearying you with this 
humble preacher." 

"Oh! no! no!" they all exclaimed, ^-we want 
to hear all it has to teach." 

" Will you tell me then, Maria, why the Im- 
patiens disappointed Emily's expectations, and 
proved so much less valuable, than its brilliant 
blossoms had led her to expect?" 

-^Because," she replied, "it withered imme- 
diately after it was plucked." 

"You were right. It was its sensibility to 
touch, which made it worthless for the purpose, 
for which Emily had intended it. Now tell 
me candidly, my young friends, if there are no 
spirits in our little band, which resemble the 
Impatiens in its excessive sensitiveness ? Do 
none of you feel guilty of indulging feelings 
of this kind, by which you often impair your 
own happiness, and destroy the comfort of 
others. If this temper, which has its origin 



100 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

partly in pride, combined with naturally quick 
feelingSj is not carefully watched, prayed and 
striven against, it will, believe me, my dear 
children, as effectually interfere with your use- 
fulness in the garden of the Lord, as the sensi- 
bility to touch evinced by the Impatiens, will 
destroy its value as an ornament to our draw- 
ing rooms. 

" We must not try to find an excuse, my 
dear little girls, when we feel ourselves giving 
way to this extreme sensitiveness, by saying, 
that our hearts are so much more tenderly con- 
stituted than others, because it savors more of 
selfishness than of real sensibility, to get angry, 
or as children are wont to sa^?-, hurt^ at every 
trial that comes in our way, or at every word 
that may touch our tender part, though it may 
have been spoken most unintentionally. Sup- 
pose our Impatiens was to vaunt herself above 
the sweet Violet, or modest Arbutus, because 
she shrinks from the gentlest pressure, while 
they in their humility, bend their heads gently 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 101 

under the foot of the intruder, and then raise 
them again, when the enemy has departed. 
Would you not smile, and tell her, you loved 
them the better, for their meek endurance? 

^^But while I am very desirous to make use 
of our floral emblem for the day, in impres- 
sing upon you, the virtue of patient and meek 
endurance of apparent, and even of real slights, 
I would also take advantage of it, as a favor- 
able opportunity for urging upon you, the duty 
of dealing gently with all those, who from 
natural disposition, or adverse circumstances, 
are suffering under the infirmities of a very 
sensitive temper. It is not sensibility, you will 
observe, that I am objecting to, but ill-directed 
feeling. Without warm affections, the charac- 
ter never appears very lovely. 

"We shall find many individuals my young 
friends, as we pass through this evil world, 
possessed of extreme sensitiveness, and let us 
learn to estimate their sufferings, by what we 
have ourselves endured from the same cause, 



102 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

and thus cautiously try to avoid whatever may 
give pain to any fellow creature, however poor, 
and humble, and even offensive to us, he may 
be. If Emily had not crushed the Impatiens, 
by her eager and thoughtless pressure of its 
sensitive stalk and leaves, it would still have 
been blooming with the same beauty, as first 
attracted her admiration ; so, my children, many 
a heart is at this moment to be found, crushed 
to the earth in its sorrows, and deprived of 
spiritual health and energy, that might still 
have been vigorous, happy and virtuous, had 
not some thoughtless spoiler passed by and 
plucked its beauties. You look shocked, my 
children, and seem ready to exclaim, ' we would 
not act thus, for any consideration !' But many, 
both among the old and young are to be found, 
who while they would shrink with horror 
from any open deed of unkindness, are never- 
theless continually, perhaps daily, by petty acts 
of inconsideration, doing something to give pain 
to another. Now my dear young friends, I 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 103 

am very desirous that you should try in every 
situation of life, so to consider the feelings, 
infirmities, tastes, innocent prejudices, and in 
short every thing that concerns the happiness 
of others, as to avoid as much as you can, 
consistently with duty, whatever would interfere 
with their comfort, and to practise as far as in 
you lies, whatever may add to their happiness. 
It was thus, our blessed Redeemer uniformly 
acted, while he sojourned in our world of sin 
and sorrow. Never did He bruise the broken 
heart, or refuse to comfort those that mourned. 
However erring they might have been, He was 
ever ready to forgive them, and minister to 
their necessities. He ^pleased not himself — 
He ^sought not his own, but the things of 
others.' " 

My young friends, made many good resolu- 
tions that evening, and determined to cultivate 
by God's assistance, the christian graces which 
had been suggested for our consideration, by 
the floral emblem of that day's selection, viz : 



104 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

the graces of meekness under injury, — and con- 
sideration towards their fellow creatures. 

Before we separated, I proposed as they were 
fond of poetry, to give them some lines to 
commit to memory, on the subject on which 
we had been conversing, written by one, who 
both by her life, and in her writings, has 
taught us to practise these, and all other chris- 
tian graces. 



He whose helpless tenderness removes, 

The rankling thorn which wounds the breast he loves. 

Smooths not another's rugged path alone, 

But clears the obstruction which impedes his own. 

Small slights, neglect, unmix'd perhaps with hate, 

Make up in number, what they want in weight. 

These and a thousand griefs minute as these, 

Corrode our comfort and destroy our ease. 

As feeling tends to good or leans to ill, 

It gives fresh force to vice or principle; 

'Tis not a gift peculiar to the good, 

'Tis often but the virtue of the blood. 

If ill-directed it pursues the wrong. 

It adds new strength to what before was strong; 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 105 

Breaks out in wild irregular desires 
Disordered passions and unholy fires; 
Without, deforms the man, depraves within, 
And makes the work of God, the slave of sin. 
But if Religion's bias rule the soul. 
Then sensibility exalts the whole. 
Sheds its sweet sunshine on the moral part. 
Nor wastes on fancy, what should warm the heart. 

Hannah More. 




Chim. wnh i la umhillato/ 



107 



CHIMAPHILA UMBELLATA, 

PIPSISSEWA. 

Decandria Monogynia. 

In our Eastern and Middle States, a custom 
prevailed to a great extent in former days, and 
indeed still continues to prevail, though by no 
means as generally as it once did, to sanction 
which, the authority of our English ancestors 
is quoted by some, while by others, its proto- 
type is found in the ceremonies connected with 
the observance of the ancient Jewish feast of 
Tabernacles. I refer to the practice of orna- 
menting private and public dwellings, especially 
the temples of God, with wreaths and boughs 
of evergreens, in celebration of the nativity of 
our blessed Lord. 

One of the plants in great request in our 
Middle States, is the Chimaphila Umbellata, the 
rich green of whose glossy leaves, forms a hand- 



108 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

some addition to the Running and Ground Pine, 
which are the chief ornaments selected by the 
inhabitants on these occasions. 

During one of our winter strolls, it happened 
that my young companions, while walking through 
a thick wood, lighted on a little plantation of the 
Chimaphila, which is generally found growing 
in patches of some yards in extent. The plant 
was new to them, and on finding it, they uttered 
exclamations of delight, for to heighten the 
pleasure derived from the intrinsic beauty of the 
plant, which is by no means small, they had 
long been searching fruitlessly, in the faint hope 
of finding something that might have survived 
the frosts and snows of winter. They came run- 
ning to me, and while joy was depicted on each 
feature, they exclaimed, while holding up to 
view bunches of the Chimaphila, '^ A prize ! a 
prize ! Look at our winter nosegays ! " 

I was affected deeply at the sight, but my 
emotions were of a different kind from those, 
which filled the breasts of my young compa- 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 109 

nions. By the power of early associations this 
humble plant was linked with some of the ten- 
derest of those scenes, that had been left im- 
pressed on "the silent shore of memory," after 
the " tide of time" had washed away in its pro- 
gress, more perishable and less cherished images. 
As soon as my eyes rested on it, there came flit- 
ting before me in quick succession, numberless 
scenes, which varied each succeeding moment. 
Now, the cheerful fire seemed to blaze on the 
hearth with the peculiar brightness, with which 
children imagine it burns in the happy Christ- 
mas days ; then came the merry voices of child- 
hood, and the more subdued, but still more 
cherished tones of beloved parents, who were 
wont to grace by their presence and heighten the 
joys of the family tryst ; words of love then 
spoken, came rushing to my recollection ; tender 
caresses seemed as if now just received ; inno- 
cent joys then partaken of — all, — all,— came back 
so vividly, that tears, in spite of myself, forced 
themselves down my cheeks, 

K 



110 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

My companions observed them and inquired 
kindly what had occurred to distress me. In 
reply, I told them, that the sight of the Chima- 
phila had brought back to my recollection many 
scenes of former days, and one, which was 
especially affecting to me. I was immediately 
importuned, to relate as many of the particulars 
as I could, and moreover, I was requested to 
make the Chimaphila a flloral emblem, and 
from it, to read them some instructive lessons. 
After a little deliberation I consented, but as the 
weather was too cold, to permit them to sit 
down in the wood to listen, they consented to 
wait until the evening, when having assembled 
my young friends around me, the following con- 
versation took place. 

" The events to which I particularly referred, 
my dear young friends, took place many years 
ago. You may imagine yourselves transported, 
to one of the fairest of the country towns, of 
dear old New Jersey and to the interior of a 
picturesque little building, known proverbially 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. Ill 

at that time by all classes and all sects in our 
community as ^ the Church ; ' for our beloved 
and venerable pastor, by his unobtrusive piety 
and conciliatory deportment towards all deno- 
minations during long years of ministerial labor, 
had never stirred up the angry feelings of sec- 
tarian or party spirit. 

A number of the young members of his flock, 
were on one of the days preceding Christmas, 
of the year 18 — , engaged in decorating the in- 
terior of the church. Some hands were busily 
employed, in twining v/reaths of Running Pine 
and Chimaphila. Others, were no less intent, 
in forming letters of the same material, which 
were afterwards to be turned into sentences of 
Holy Writ, for decorating the walls about the 
chancel. Not one was unemployed. The aged 
pastor broke in upon them and cheered them 
by his smile of approbation ; and when the 
whole was completed, the unanimous decision 
was — that it was beautiful." 

"But why did you weep when you thought 



112 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

of this scene?" inquired one of my auditors. 
"I wept not for this, but from recollecting, 
how sad a change has passed over all those 
pleasant things. The aged shepherd of the 
flock has been gathered to his rest^ and his re- 
mains now repose near the walls of the sanc- 
tuaryj which he so loved in life and in death. 
Some of his parishioners have been dispersed 
in various sections of the Union, and have all 
tasted their own peculiar joys and sorrows ; 
other beloved ones, slumber near him, there to 
await the blessed morning of the resurrection, 
when they shall rise radiant in the beauty of 
holiness ; one fair and cherished flower, was 
carried to the more genial climes of the South, 
in hopes that under its warmer sun, she might 
bloom still longer, but her God had marked 
her for His own, and her mortal part now 
slumbers in its last quiet resting place, away 
from the home and friends of her childhood, 
until she too, shall be gathered to her Father's 
house of many mansions. A great change too, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS, 113 

has taken place in the sanctuary itself. The 
hand of professed improvement has been laid 
upon it, and many there are, who boast of its 
beautification, and who feel complacency in its 
showy decorations and modernized air. But 
my love to it was nurtured in infancy, while 
it yet retained its character of rustic simplicityj 
and I loved it the better for its chaste beauties. 
It had been the temple of my fathers, and the 
ashes of ancestors of more than one generation, 
occupied an honorable place within its walls, 
while many of the most beloved reposed around 
them." 

Here I paused, for emotions of a varied kind 
forbade my proceeding. The countenances of 
my young friends showed their sympathy. 
^^But why ^^ dwell longer on these scenes?" I 
exclaimed, "I will now read you your lessons 
of instruction from the Chimaphila. I told you, 
my children, that it served to decorate the walls 
of that village sanctuary, and beautiful did it 
make them appear, when the desolation of win- 



114 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

ter rested on the surrounding landscape. God 
is rearing His spiritual temple in this world; 
and as it rises in silent majestyj many a fair 
flower is transplanted yearly from among us, 
and ajfHxed to its walls, and the memorial of 
their lovely examples — their alms-deeds — their 
works of faith and labor of love, perisheth not, 
but remains in perennial beauty, as did the wreath 
of Chimaphila around the walls of our village 
church. The cold blasts of December have 
not destroyed the beauty of the plants you 
gathered this morning, for they have lifted 
their heads triumphantly from snow and ice. 
So neither, have the cold chills of death been 
able to destroy the loveliness of our beloved 
Christian friends. They threw off the cum- 
bersome night-mantle of the flesh and have 
soared away to the Paradise of God, where 
they shall ever flourish in increasing beauty. 
Let us, my dear children, habitually endeavor 
to mature love, faith, and patience in our 
bosoms, so that their fruits may shine forth in 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 115 

our lives, and we may become the means of 
bringing fresh glory to our God and Saviour." 

^' But/' said one of my young companions, 
"we are little children. Can we help to adorn 
God's temple ?" 

^'Yes, my love, you can, most undoubtedly. 
The infant Samuel glorified God ; and during 
succeeding ages, while the record of kings and 
conquerors have passed away, the memorial of 
his early piety has remained, glowing in the 
freshness of beauty, amidst the darkness of sur- 
rounding heathenism, just as the Chimaphila 
appeared to you this morning, when you found 
it exhibiting its rich green leaves in the midst 
of the brown and withered herbage." 

CHURCH OF MY SIRES. 

{Somewhat altered from the original.^ 

Church of my sires! my love to thes 
Was nurtur'd with my infancy. 
And now maturar thoughts approve 
The object of that infant love. 



116 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

Visions of liolit arrest the eyo 

In each I'.oh pago of memory; 

Tho blessings at thy altar given, 

Thy prayers which lift my soul to Heaven! 

The monuments which proudly rise, 

In token of the good and wise; 

The groves, with verdure oft renewed, 

As with my constant tears bedewed, 

Whore tho38 in honored slumbers lie, 

Whose deaths have taught me how to die; 

And shall I not with all my powers 

Watch round thy venerable towers'? 

And can I bid the pilgrim flee 

To holier mother than to thee'? 

Whose hand shall guide his wandering feet 

Through fields with flowers of mercy sweet, 

Along the true, the living road. 

That leads to rest, and Heaven and God! 

J. W. Cunningham, 



117 



CELASTRUS SCANDENS. 

STAFF-TREE, WAX-WORK. 

Pentandria Mcnogynia. 

Calyx fivo lobed. Calyx five petalled, racemes terminal. 
Flowers yellowish white, small. Berries a bright orange 
red, resom.bling wax. The plant climbing, from ten to 
twenty, and even reaching thirty feet in height. 

To an eye unaccustomed to such sceneSj 
there is much grandeur in the aspect of the 
extensive forests of our Yfestern States. As we 
traverse their seckided paths, and gaze upon the 
giant forms of their lofty oaks, we are made to 
feel that we are but as creatures of a day in 
comparison, and our minds are lost in the fruit- 
less attempt, to conjecture, the period, when 
they first started into existence, or the mighty 
changes which have taken place meanwhile, in 
the world around them. 

In the course of one of our autumnal walks, 
we were led into the deep recesses of one of 
the neighboring woods, into which the axe, had 



118 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

been but sparingly introduced. There was no 
sound of human voices save our own, " and all 
the busy hum of life/' was, as a thing imknown. 
But the footsteps of God had been there, as 
he rode on one of his terrible whirlwinds, and 
a pathway had thus been made, the vestiges of 
which, were distinctly visible. There were 
many majestic sons of the forest, which had 
been prostrated perhaps in a moment's time, and 
as I looked at them, I bade my young friends 
think of the irresistible power, which the Al- 
* mighty can impart at his pleasure to the winds, 
his ministering servants. " If, my children," said 
I ^' these magnificent oaks, whose lofty summits 
seem to have defied the attempts of the destroyer, 
could be thus instantaneously uprooted at the 
command of God, how shall poor feeble man 
presume to oppose his power? 'All flesh is 
grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of 
grass. The grass withereth and the flowe/ 
thereof falleth away ; but the word of the Lord 
endureth forever.'" 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 119 

In the track, which the whirlwind had taken, 
had been one fine oak, left safely moored in the 
bosom of the earth. It had been evidently 
greatly shaken, and indeed entirely bent from 
its upright position, but it was nevertheless 
growing in healthy old age, though with dimin- 
ished honors; for as our eyes hastily scanned 
its tall trunk, we could perceive the empty 
spaces, which had once been adorned with fine 
and vigorous limbs. 

I directed the attention of those around me 
to this tree, and pointed out to them the proba- 
ble cause of its preservation, amidst the general 
wreck. The base of it was completely encir- 
cled by the roots of the Celastrus Scandens, the 
twining boughs of which, had formed a tower 
of defence around the majestic oak, and thus 
had broken the violence of the wind. 

The young people were greatly pleased with 
the beautiful, rich green leaves of the Celastrus 
^r Staff-tree, and eagerly inquired its name. 
They gathered branches of it, and wished they 



120 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

could have seen its blossoms ; observing at the 
same time, that if they could have found one 
solitary flower, it should have served as their 
floral emblem for the day. 

"I like it,'' said Anna," '^for being such a 
kind friend to this fine old oak, and sheltering 
him so carefully, when the whirlwind was root- 
ing up his neighboring trees." 

'^ Suppose then, in virtue of this friendly 
action," said I, " we take it as our preacher for 
the day. Its blossoms, could you have seen 
them, would have possessed little beauty in your 
eyes ; it is chiefly valued on account of its fine 
foliage, and glowing, scarlet berries." 

As I said this, I drew down some of the tall 
branches of the Celastrus, and after gathering 
many branches of its beautiful scarlet, waxen 
looking berries, I distributed them among the 
children, who were profuse in their admiration 
of them, and gaily ornamented their bonnets 
with the sprigs. 

The air was too cold to moralize long in the 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 121 

shady recesses of the forest ; we therefore ad- 
journed to our comfortable parlor, to talk over 
the CelastruSj and the virtues, of which it was 
to be the emblem. 

As the little girls removed the brilliant ber- 
ries from their hats, to their flower pots, they 
anxiously inquired, if it was probable these would 
live for any length of time in their vases. I told 
them in reply, that this would depend in a 
measure upon the heat of the apartment, but 
assured them, that, if left on their stalks, the 
berries retain their color during the desola- 
tion of winter ; thus presenting a beautiful 
contrast, as they peep their scarlet faces from 
under the mantle of snow, which often ma^r 
be seen resting on the bunches of the Celastrus' 
berries. 

When we were all seated, I observed — "The 
Celastrus has suggested to my mind a somewhat 
similar train of ideas to what it did to you, Anna ; 
with this difference, you viewed it as an emblem 
of friendship merely, while to me, that Celastru? 

L 



122 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

sheathing the oak, in its clanger, and binding it 
up in its distress, seemed beautifully emblematic, 
of the love of a tenderly attached and pious 
child, to the authors of her natural life. 

"The Almighty in innumerable parts of His 
holy word, takes occasion, my dear young 
friends, to show the light in which he regards 
the relation subsisting between children and 
their parents. No other transgression between 
man and man, seems to excite so greatly, 
His righteous indignation, as that of filial dis- 
obedience. Sometimes He woos us to love, 
honor, and obey our fathers and mothers by 
the promise in so doing of obtaining long life 
in that good land which the Lord our God, 
shall give to all His redeemed people; again 
He wishes the voice of paternal warning to 
deter us from violating our duty to our pa- 
rents, 4he eye that mocketh at his father and 
despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the 
valley shall pick it out, and t young eagles 
shall eat it.' Looking upon the subject in 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 123 

this light, I gladly avail myself of the present 
occasion to press upon your hearts and con- 
sciences, the duty of loving, honoring, cherish- 
ing and obeying your dear fathers and mothers, 
as long as the precious privilege of doing so, 
may be vouchsafed to you. Look my children 
at this beautiful Celastrus; observe how closely 
it has entwined itself around the great oak, 
and though weak and powerless in itself, to 
resist the mighty tempest, yet see, with what 
exceeding tenacity, it has interwoven its pliant 
branches, and thus formed a network of defence 
for its protection, against the ravages of the 
tempest. I told you its blossoms would possess 
few charms to excite admiration after the storms 
of winter should huve bereft the parent oak of all 
its verdure ; and even when the snow and sleet 
shall rest on its own branches, the crimson 
berries will still show forth their faces of beau- 
ty. So, my children, I have beheld a young 

Christian, whose personal charms were by na- 
ture, of no remarkable kind, but who, while 



124 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

exhibiting the lovely fruits of Christian obedi- 
ence and filial duty, shone in all the matured 
beauty of holiness. The storm of adversity 
passed over her parents, and in its rude blasts, 
swept away from them, the riches and honors 
of this world ; they were shaken with the vio- 
lence of the tempests, but they fell not like 
some of their taller and more stately neighbors; 
for their daughter in her weakness, wound the 
chains of love, only the more sedulously and 
strongly in the hour of trial, and by her unre- 
mitting tenderness and filial attentions, kept 
under Providence, her parents' hearts from sink- 
ing under their sorrows. The winter of death 
at length stole over that circle, the parent and 
child alike felt its power, but they were both 
beautiful in the midst of surrounding decay, 
and the fruits of filial love and tendernesSj 
shone forth to the very close of that young 
Christian's life, whose last efforts were employ- 
ed to soothe and comfort her widowed mother," 
"I think," said Emily, as she wiped away 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 125 

the tear from her eyes, ^- the name of Staff- tree, 
is a very good one for the Celastrus ; since it 
is to teach us how to do our duty to our pa- 
rents. It will be very pleasant, aunt, to be a 
staffs to support dear mother or father, when 
they grow old and feeble." 

"I like it for another reason too," observed 
one humble minded little one. " It will help 
me I hope to be satisfied, without having so 
pretty a face as some of the other dear girls. I can 
be useful, and very serviceable to others, not- 
withstanding my homely looks. If God spares 
my life, perhaps even I, may be able to show 
some fruits that will be pleasant to look on, in 
old age." 

^^ I wonder if the Celastrus will flourish with- 
out a tree to support it?" inquired Maria. '' If 
it will, I am determined to transplant some of 
those young ones, which we observed growing 
near the large vine." 

I told her, that it would twine round a post 
or any artificial support, she might be pleased 



126 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

to provide for it, though it would be more 
beautiful encircling a tree. " So," said I, smil- 
ingly, " the dutiful and affectionate child, may 
by her tender attentions, gladden the heart of 
an aunt, or other female friends, though her 
Christian graces may not shine, as much in 
those circumstances, as when devoting herself 
to a parent's comfort. 

" You remember the interesting Ruth, the 
daughter-in-law of Naomi, whose history you 
have often read in the Bible. She, by her filial 
attentions, and pious consecration of herself to 
God, in the path of domestic duty, obtained 
the blessing of the Lord of Hosts. To her. 
He assigned the honor of being the mother 
of Him, who was of the house of David, of 
whom according to the flesh, Christ came. 
The beautifully written narrative of this pious 
and affectionate child, has been by God's per- 
mission, incorporated into His Holy Word, an 
honor, my children, greater than was ever, or 
will ever, be obtained by the most learned dis 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 127 

ciple of science. We read in ancient history, of 
a beautiful princess, whose personal attractions 
obtained for her the compliment, of having her 
name bestowed on a constellation, by one of the 
celebrated astronomers of the day. How much 
more honorable, is the tribute paid by God him- 
self, to the modest piety of Kuth : He gave her 
name and history, a place in his blessed Scrip- 
tures, and now, for more than three thousand 
years, the light of her example, has been dif- 
fused over the church of God^ and will contin- 
ue to gladden it forever. 

"Our divine Redeemer has left us a pattern 
of filial, as well as of all other duties. ^'He 
was subject to his earthly mother,' though the 
Lord of Glory ; and when just completing the 
glorious work of our redemption, and about 
to resume his exalted place in Heaven, He still 
remembered with tender affection the sorrov/s, 
and anticipated the bereavement, of his beloved 
mother ; and amid his own exceeding anguish 
of body, devised and executed a plan, by 



128 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

which to promc:o her comfort during the re- 
mainder of her life. 

"You will, I trust, my dear young friends, 
be found emulating the graces, of w^hich our 
floral emblem of the day has been the type. 
You will, I hope, be staff-trees in the vineyard 
of your Lord, gladdening the church and city 
of God, in the days of youth and vigor, and 
encircling your dear parents, with your fond 
affection, so that if, in the providence of God, 
the storm and the rain should descend upon 
them, your arms being their stay, and your 
tender attentions their consolation, they will not 
be prostrated by their afflictions, but may prove 
how much sweeter, than aught else of earthly 
good, it is, to have a grateful, loving child. 

"I was once privileged to behold a father 
and mother thus blessed, who having brought 
up a large family of children, found them their 
stay in the season of adversity, and who arose 
up and ^called the parents blessed.' In the 
hour of death, their beds were surrounded and 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 129 

their pillows smoothed, by the children of their 
fond affection, on whom, their voices called 
down blessings from on high, while the pow- 
er of utterance was continued to them, and 
when their eyes became glazed by death, they 
continued to express the same exeeding ten- 
derness." 

Before we separated, I repeated to them the 
following lines, which, in the last couplet, I 
have taken the liberty of so far altering, as to 
make the passage descriptive of filial love, in- 
stead of being, as in the original, a tribute t 
paternal affection. 

Of all the knots which Nature ties 

The secret, sacred sympathies; 

That, as with viewless chains of gold, 

The heart a happy prisoner hold — 

None is more chaste, more bright, more pure, 

Stronger stern trials to endure: — 

Ncne is more purged of earthly leaven. 

More like the love of highest Heaven ; — 

Than that which binds in bonds how blest, 

A parent to a daughter's breast. 

J. \V. CUIJNINGHAM. 



131 



TRIFOLIUM REFENS. 

WHITE CLOVER. 

Diadelphia Decandria. 

Flowers sub-capitat9. Legume included in the calyx. 
Leaves always ternate. 

It is of great importance to the health of 
mind and body, that you should, my young 
friends, early acquire a taste for simple plea- 
sures and pursuits ; and if your Heavenly Fath- 
er has seen fit to place you, in the more humble 
and lowly walks of life, that you should learn 
therein, to be content and happy. True happi- 
ness, believe me, does not depend entirely, as 
you may perhaps have been induced to ima- 
gine, on outward circumstances, but far more, 
on the state of the heart of the individual. 
Have you, my young friends, been tempted to 
indulge in sinful repinings after things which 
God has thought proper to deny you, but 
which He has granted to some of your little 



132 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

companions? I have often seen, I am griev- 
ed to say, in Smiday-school, and indeed in the 
house of Godj an expression resting on the 
countenance of a little girl or boy, which even 
to my eyes, unfolded painful truths. It told me, 
that the finer clothes which were worn that 
day, by some youthful companion, had roused 
very envious feelings in the hearts of some of 
those who were gazing on them; and that 
while engaged in repeating precious verses 
from the Scriptures, and even while joining 
with the lips in the worship of God, some lit- 
tle breasts vv^ere secretly indulging in murmuring 
and rebellious thoughts against their Heavenly 
Father, and by their covetous longings after 
things in the possession of their neighbors, 
were breaking the tenth commandment of the 
Lord their God. 

The turning away of the heart from inno- 
cent, lawful, but humble pleasures, and the per- 
verse craving for more showy but often unsat- 
isfactory posessions, which our Heavenly Father 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 133 

has placed beyond our reach, will be shown 
on various occasions, and by characters of very 
different description. On one occasion, I no- 
ticed such an exhibition among my young 
companions, under the following circumstances. 

It was late in the autumn, after our mea- 
dows, and favorite woodland paths had ceased 
to yield us, more than the most scanty num- 
ber of flowers, and those of greatly diminish- 
ed beauty, that we took one more of our long 
walks. The young pedestrians had determined 
they would seek one more floral emblem on 
the day before giving up this recreation for 
that season; but after searching nearly to the 
close of our walk without success, they began 
to yield to melancholy repinings, and from 
thence passed to peevishness and complainings. 

As we were drawing nigh home, the young- 
est of our party bounded forwards to pluck 
something from the side of a sunny hillock, 
and when she turned, her lovely countenance, 
was beaming with joy. She clasped her trea- 

M 



134 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

sure in her hand, and called on us playfully 
to guess what she had* found. Her compan- 
ions, not being in a very favorable mood for 
play, returned rather short and petulant an- 
swers, to her interrogatories. None of them 
guessed aright, for all were seeking some flow- 
er more brilliant, than the lateness of the sea- 
son warranted them to expect. 

At length the merry hearted little one, open- 
ed her tiny fingers, and showed two or three 
white clover blossoms, which had been crushed 
in the tightness of her grasp. A somewhat con- 
temptuous expression passed over the counte- 
nances of some of her companions,, while dis- 
appointment tinged the looks of all. At length, 
one of the elder girls exclaimed, with consider- 
able peevishness, ^^ White Clover ! and much 
thanks to you for that ! Pray what sort of a 
floral emblem will that make?" 

In no wise disconcerted by these rebuffs, the 
finder of the despised flower, came tripping joy- 
ously on to me, and seeing sympathy in my 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 135 

countenance at least, she said confidently-j " Dear 
Aunt shall have it, I know by her eyes, that 
she can make it preach a pretty lesson, though 
none of you girls think it worth any thing." 

As I stooped to imprint a kiss on her rosy 
cheek, I replied, "If your companions are dis- 
posed to listen to the moral of your humble 
little flower, my dear child, I believe I can 
venture to assure you, that it can serve as 
well for a floral emblem, as any of the more 
showy blossoms which you have previously 
selected. At any rate, history informs us, that 
the celebrated St. Patrick, the great apostle of 
Ireland, who went into that country as a mis- 
sionary, taught the rude natives the great Gos- 
pel truth of the Trinity, and illustrated the doc- 
trine of three persons in one Godhead, by a 
clover leaf which he held in his hand ; the 
leaves as you well remember almost uniformly, 
grow with three leaflets on one stalk." 

The shade had now passed from the counte- 
nances of my little friends, and they no longer 



136 FLORAL EMBLEMS, 

regarded the clover blossoms, with contempt or 
iiidifferencej but seemed quite ready to listen 
to any instructions, which I was disposed to 
deliver upon the subject. 

" You are well aware, my dear young friends, 
that the White Clover springs up naturally in 
our fields and commons, and clothes them with 
a rich verdure. Though the detached blossoms 
have, as I readily acknowledge, no particular 
beauty, yet is this ^humble rustic thing,' an 
incalculable blessing to our whole country, since 
the nourishment which it furnishes to our cat- 
tle, is one of the chief means of their subsistence. 
Suppose throughout our Union, the White Clover 
should suddenly become extinct, what exceeding 
distress would ensue ! From the richest dwell- 
ing down to the cottage of the poorest, the voice 
of lamentation would be heard issuing, and at 
our evening and morning meals, we should all 
feel, that in the destruction of this, one, humble, 
and by some, despised vegetable production, we 
had lost a treasure, for which none of the richer 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 137 

and more costly of our flowers, could furnish a 
substitute." 

" I never thought before/' said one of the little 
girls who had been most decided in the expres- 
sion of her . contempt, at the idea of the White 
Clover serving as a floral emblem, ^^ what a pre- 
cious thing this common flower was to us all ; 
I hope I shall now, not be so ready to give way 
to such naughty feelings again." 

" Let it be a lesson to you all, my children," I 
replied, "and endeavor henceforward, not to 
judge too hastily, of people or things, and espe- 
cially seek to select your friends, not according 
to their rank in life, their wealth or beauty, but 
in proportion as you find the individual possess- 
ing ^the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,' 
which as it is in the ^ eyes of God of great price,' 
so should the sight of it in another, be highly 
influential in the estimate we form of his, or her 
character. In the pride of station and in the 
consciousness of acknowledged superiority of 
mind and education, many persons are disposed 

M* 



138 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

to look down on their more humble and illiterate 
Christian brethren, as on beings of a far inferior 
order, and vainly imagine that they, in a more 
conspicuous situation, must be of far more im- 
portance to the prosperity of their country and 
church; but my dear children, as the White 
Clover may be considered in the light of a 
national blessing, from the benefit which it con- 
fers, so be assured the humble band of Christian 
disciples, who in any country may be found, 
glorifying God by a conscientious and faithful 
discharge of the duties of their allotted post, will 
constitute one of the most important and substan- 
tial blessings to the community which contahis 
them." 

One of my little friends was occasionally 
tempted, as I before observed, to give way to 
despondency, from the consciousness of her not 
possessing the same personal charms, or the same 
quickness of mind, as her companions. The 
present was too favorable an opportunity for 
throwing in a word of tender counsel and en- 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 139 

couragement, to this humble minded little one, 
to be allowed to pass unimproved. 

I called her attention to the sweet perfume of 
the Clover. " See, my dear," said I, " how much 
more agreeable a smell, this humble flower pos- 
sesses, than some of our showy garden beauties. 
Let us draw a comparison between them, and the 
plants which adorn the garden of the Lord. The 
Lord, my child, by the prophet Samuel, taught 
us, that He 4ooks not on the outward appearance, 
but on the heart.' The meek and humble 
Christian, may have nothing of personal charms 
to recommend her to the favor of her fellow 
creatures — she may be moderate in capacity, and 
slow in acquiring knowledge; she ought not 
however necessarily to be considered, as afflicted 
in the absence of what man admires : God orders 
all these things for her, in wisdom and love also, 
and He can turn her very disadvantages, into a 
blessing to her soul ; He may teach her, to think 
humbly and lowly of herself, and He may work 
in her by these means, that meekness with which 



140 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

He has pledged himself ^ to beautify the heirs of 
salvation;' and then, there will arise from that 
humble and perhaps, humanly neglected plant in 
the garden of the Lord, a sweet and continual 
perfume, gladdening the eyes of God, and grati- 
fying those fellow Christians, who are able to 
perceive and appreciate it. I will repeat to you 
a few sweet lines, in praise of your once despised, 
but now valued flowers," I continued, addressing 
myself to the gatherer of the Clover Blossom, 
"which you will perhaps like to commit to 
memory." 

THE WHITE CLOVER. 

There is a little perfumed flower, 
It well might grace the^ loveliest bower, 
Yet poet never deigned to sing 
Of such an humble, rustic thing; 
Nor is it strange, for it can show 
Scarcely one tint of Iris' bow; 
Nature, perchance, in careless hour, 
With pencil dry might paint the flower; 
Yet instant blush'd her fault to see, 
So gave a double fragrancy. 
Rich recompense for aught denied! 
Who could not homely garb abide, 



FLORAL EMBLEMS. 141 

If gentlest soul wera breathing there 
Breathing through all our little sphere? 
Sweet flower! the lesson thou hast taught, 
Shall check each proud ambitious thought, 
Teach me internal worth to prize, 
Though found in lowliest, humblest, guiee. 

Anox. 

"How sorry I am," said one of my young 
friends, "that we must give up for so long a 
time, our lessons upon flowers; but as they 
were to have an end, I am glad the Clover was 
our last preacher. It teaches the same lesson 
that Mother is often trying to impress upon us 
at home: I mean contentment." 

"It were well, my dear," I replied, ^^if all the 
Christian parents in our land would imitate 
her example, and teach their children to be 
content with such things as they have, since 
'our life consisteth not in the abundance 
of things which we possess.' It is a melan- 
choly, but yet a certain truth, my dear chil- 
dren, that too many professedly religious pa- 
rents, in the training of their children, seem 
entirely to lose sight of this simple truth of 



142 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

the Gospel; while some, at least by then* con- 
ductj would seem to deny it. For the same 
eager desires after the elevation of their chil- 
dren's worldly prospects — the same vigorous ef- 
forts to force them a little above the level in 
society occupied by their parents — the same 
dread of a life of honest exertion — and the 
same despondency in the view of leaving them 
to tread the humble and narrow path of poverty, 
— which is exhibited by persons who are 
avowedly worldly, is too often manifested by 
the professing Christian, whose Bible teaches 
her, that the life, or true happiness of man, 
' consisteth not, in the abundance of the things 
which he possesseth,' " 



143 



CONCLUSION. 

If the foregoing simple lessons, drawn from 
the flowers of the field, should encourage one 
parent in her efforts to cultivate the moral 
nature of her children ; or if one beloved child 
in the fold of Christ, shall be nourished, in- 
structed, or in any degree edified by the truths 
attempted to be conveyed through the medium 
of these Floral Emblems, the writer will feel 
herself abundantly rewarded. She would, in 
every attempt, which she has made hitherto, 
or may make hereafter, to lead her youthful 
readers to look "through nature, up to nature's 
God," seek His blessing upon her efforts, who 
can alone give efiicacy to any instructions de- 
livered by man; knowing that He can, and 
often does, honor with His approbation, and 
crown with His blessing, the work of the most 
feeble instrument, when in singleness of heart. 



144 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 

it is done unto him. So far, then, as the spirit 
which pervades the volume is in accordance 
with His will, he will condescend to make use 
of it in doing good to the lambs of his flock, 
for He can give the tongue of the stammerer 
ability to speak plainly and agreeably. In this 
hope, the writer would affectionately commend 
her present work, to her youthful readers, trust- 
ing to Him, who is the "Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the ending, which is, and 
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." 



I!H.. 




I*ulr?ionaria i/ir^jiin low, 



I IBRARY OF CONGRESS 

00020=17^=151 



